


Fight, Flight, or Freeze

by fleetingdejavu



Category: Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-05-04 19:17:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 46,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5345567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleetingdejavu/pseuds/fleetingdejavu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When faced with an unknown and potentially dangerous situation, the body responds with a flood of adrenaline that will evoke an unconscious response in you. Fight, flight, or freeze. You don't get to choose which one, it's automatic, instinct. Claire hates this response with a passion. Claire/Owen</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Zara what the hell do you mean you set up a date for me?” Claire was glaring at her assistant from across the elevator, her shoulders tense. The brunette smirked at her before turning her eyes back to her phone, answering the text from her fiancé. 

“You need to do something other than work for once. You know- have conversations about something other than guest satisfaction and that new asset, the Ind… whatever name they decided to go with.”

“Indominus-rex. And I do things other than work, I went out for drinks with you and your friends just last week.” And she had been bored out of her mind and kept sneaking away to answer emails but she kept that to herself.

“Try last month.”

“It wasn’t that long ago.”

“My sister was here and that was almost 5 weeks ago. Claire, sweetie, I’m off the clock now and as your friend, I’m going to tell you something you may not want to hear-“

“Then don’t-“

“You NEED to get laid.”

“Zara! That’s completely inappropriate and not true! Cancel it. I don’t date people I haven’t met.” She took a deep breath, willing the elevator to move more quickly. 

“Yes, and you don’t date co-workers or men who don’t shave or men who aren’t at least two inches taller than you in heels or who don’t read at least 5 books for pleasure a year or-“

“Stop! I’m not interested and I don’t have time. Not to mention the fact that you had no right to schedule some date for me without asking me first. So just cancel it, and don’t do it again!” As if to punctuate her words the elevator reached the ground level and the doors slid open, allowing her to stride away from her assistant and into the crowd of overexcited children and exhausted parents.

“It’s too late to cancel, it’s in an hour and he’s not the kind of guy who checks his phone for texts or emails constantly. Actually, I don’t think he even keeps it with him most of the time…”

“An hour? Are you kidding me?”

“Nope! You’re supposed to meet at Breakers on the north end of the resort at eight. We thought that’d be the perfect place since it’s so close to your apartment and then you can’t use some excuse about not being able to get there in time.”

“We who? You and him? Who is this guy anyways?”

“Well, I haven’t actually met him, but Alec knows him thorough a friend of his…”

“You set me up with somebody your fiancé distantly knows? You’ve got to be kidding me…” they had reached her car and Claire spun around to face Zara, determined to end this whole ridiculous idea but she was cut off before she could even begin.

“It’s just one night. He sounds like a great guy, smart and capable just like you and he’s hot. Really hot. I’d show you a picture but he has something against social media, but just trust me.” Claire opened her mouth to argue again but Zara continued on, ignoring her. “All you ever do is work or think about work, and I know you love your job but I also know you’re lonely so you work even harder until you don’t have any time to think about everything you’re missing out on. It’s one date, and I swear, if it goes poorly I’ll stop bothering you about being social for the next six months. Ok?” She stared silently at her assistant and friend, weighing the pros and cons in her head. Zara pestered her to come out with them every weekend, no matter how many times she had turned her down. Six months without that would be worth one night… right? And as much as she hated to admit it there was a small part of her that wished that she wasn’t so isolated sometimes.

Zara read her silence as acceptance and she smiled broadly. “Perfect! Now get home and put on something less…”

“Less what?”

“Cooperate. Find something more fun. You’re going to a beach bar, not a board meeting. And let loose a little!” Claire rolled her eyes at that as she got in the car, and felt her stomach clench. She tried to think back to the last date she had gone on and realized with shock that it had been close to three years ago, right before she had been promoted. When that happened work had become her whole world, but that’s what she had always wanted. To be important and valued, to lead and organize something infinitely larger than herself. Making sure Jurassic World ran smoothly was the ultimate puzzle and the pieces were always changing. She absolutely thrived on it.

When a knock sounded on the window right next to her she jumped with a gasp before she realized Zara had come to stand just outside of the window with an impatient look on her face. Claire quickly started the car to roll down the window.

“His name is Owen Grady by the way. And he works with the Raptors.” And there it was, another reason she hadn’t been on a date since being handed the reins to the park. Nearly every person who worked on the island was, however distantly, employed by her. While the company did allow disclosed relationships, she had no interest in the insecurities that tended to come up when people realized that she was their boss’s boss’s boss.

“Then cancel it, even if it means that you have to go down there and tell him yourself. I draw the line at employees and you know it.” Her declaration was met by a rare smile from her assistant.

“Ah, but that’s the beauty of it. He doesn’t work for the park; he works for InGen which you have absolutely no authority over. So there goes that excuse too! Now get going, you’re hardly going to have time to change and get there as it is!” With that she walked quickly away, almost immediately putting the phone up to her ear and chatting away to one of her friends, or maybe her fiancé. The girl couldn’t stand to be alone unless she was working, she was always meeting somebody or on the phone. She really couldn’t have been more different from Claire with the exception of caring deeply about her career. Where Zara spent her evenings and weekends at the many restaurants, bars, and nightclubs that had followed the resorts to the island, Claire would spend the little down time she had curled up with a book. Socializing outside of work had never come easily to her, so she had chosen to simply avoid it as best she could. But tonight she had been cornered and she was out of options. Unwilling to go as far as to stand him up- mostly because she was sure she would never hear the end of it from Zara- she pulled out of the parking lot and made her way to the resort where she had a suite of rooms provided to her as a part of her position. She owned a small house on the mainland as well, but it had become more of a stop-over for the occasional meetings held in San Jose. 

Time was tight by the time she reached her rooms so she quickly pulled out a light blue sundress and a pair of silver flats. Her job required her to have a certain level of presence, people needed to feel her authority as soon as she walked into a room. Looking three inches taller than she actually was helped with that, so she wore heels, but it didn’t mean she liked them.

She’d be able to walk down to Breakers if she hurried, it was just down the beach a ways from the hotel. It’d be full of tourists, to be sure, but then that was the whole purpose of the island, wasn’t it? A quick glance in the mirror showed her hair was still straight, though she doubted it would make it through an evening on the beach without beginning to curl. With a sigh she turned away from the mirror, there was nothing she could do about that other than try to move the date indoors at some point. A movie maybe? Not that she had any idea what was playing but it would be air conditioned at least. And it would provide a solid chunk of time where she wouldn’t have to try to make conversation.

With a final sigh of resignation she turned away from the mirror and quickly left the room. The elevator ride felt endless and she became very aware of the fact that her heart was beating more quickly than normal and her stomach was in knots. She hated being nervous. In high school when she had realized how afraid she was of public speaking she had immediately joined the debate team and the drama club, determined to banish the nerves that came with having many eyes on her as quickly as she could. It had worked, but there was no club she could join to help her get past her nerves in one on one situations, especially when she didn’t know what to expect, so she had generally avoided them. ‘And it worked wonders’ she thought to herself, ‘until pushy little assistants trapped you into your worst nightmare.’

“This is ridiculous! I’m a calm, confident, competent woman. It’s just a date. It will be fine.” The empty elevator absorbed her words and when she didn’t feel any calmer she pulled out her phone and opened the notepad app. A plan, that’s what she needed. It would help her relax once she knew what to expect of the night.

20:00 Meet and Greet  
20:15 Drinks- light and casual conversation  
20:45 Dinner- Questions- College attended? Post- Grad? Ambitions for next 3-5 years?  
21:45 Movie? Show?  
23:30 Part Ways- Remember to give him your card

Claire knew it read more like a job interview than a date, but it was better than nothing and her anxiety had dropped a bit. If there was time when she reached the restaurant she’d revise it a bit. Make it more personal, less work like.

Claire walked quickly along the boardwalk, weaving in and out of meandering tourists. At one point she came upon a somewhat panicked mother and father who stood in the center of three screaming boys, triplets it looked like. They were frantically trying to calm them down, but when one of them punched another one the father appeared to give up, scooping one boy under each arm and storming off towards the hotel. The mom caught the hand of the third boy and pulled him along after the others, and Claire heard her muttering something about just wanting one nice dinner while they were here as they passed her. Silently Claire hoped they didn’t fill out any surveys tonight. One comment that showed up quite often that drove her absolutely insane was that the park was ‘over stimulating to small children’. Of course it was! It was dinosaurs! It was the only place in the world that kids could interact with extinct creatures, even if they didn’t have all of the rides and gift shops that alone would have been over stimulating. 

Before she could dwell on it too much a young woman plowed into her, causing her to stumble and struggle to hold the other woman up while she found her feet.

“Oops! Sorry!” This was followed by hiccupping laughter and she staggered back to her friends who were clearly well on their way to being just as drunk as her. For a moment she debated calling security and asking them to keep an eye on the group, it was awfully early for them to be that drunk and the park was ultimately a family destination, but when the girls filed into one of the night clubs she let it go. The bartenders were under strict guidelines to refuse alcohol to anybody who was causing trouble. The whole thing did cause her to re-think the drinks portion of the evening though. She was nervous enough, the last thing she needed was to get tipsy and turn into a giggling idiot.

When she reached Breakers she hesitated a moment before going in, wondering if she should wait outside until Owen arrived, but she knew that if she did her nervousness would take her over completely so she went inside. Hopefully he would find her. Breakers wasn’t quite a restaurant, not really a bar, and kind of a club. The entire side of the building that faced the ocean was open and the tables spilled out onto a large patio with twinkling lights wrapped around the lattice awning that covered the space. There was a set of stairs that led to a dance floor and a live band was playing on a stage in the corner. Between the restaurant and the dance floor there was a large bar and she decided it made the most sense for her to wait there. Since it was still fairly early the tables were mostly full, there were only a few couples out on the dance floor, and quite a few of the bar stools were open. She scanned them as she walked up but saw no men sitting by themselves. As usual she was a few minutes early, and breathed a sigh of relief that she appeared to have arrived before him. 

She chose a barstool on a corner so that they’d be able to sit more across from each other than side by side. Almost as soon as she did though her heart started racing. There was nothing left to do but wait. Wait and worry. What if they had nothing in common? Nothing to talk about? Or what if he was a complete ass? Well, if that was the case she would just leave. That thought helped calm her a little, but then the deeper fears started to sneak up from their buried depths. What if they actually got along really well? What if she wanted to see him again but he had no interest in her? What if she ended up falling for him and it didn’t work out?

“Enough!” Exasperated with herself she pulled out her phone to check the time and found the itinerary she had typed up still on the screen. Inwardly she rolled her eyes at herself. It had been such a pathetic attempt to calm herself down when the reality was she had no way of knowing what to expect from the evening. She slid it from the screen and saw that it was a few minutes after eight, and also that she had several emails in her work account that hadn’t been there an hour ago and her finger hovered over the icon for a moment. A small part of her wanted to give this night at least a fighting chance though and being on her phone when he got there wasn’t a great way to start so instead she hit the side button to turn it off. The moment it went dark she could see the face of somebody standing right behind her reflected in the screen and she couldn’t help but jump, the phone falling from her hand and clattering onto the bar. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” His voice was just a little rough and it very unexpectedly sent chills running down her spine. She turned to face him as he moved to the side and when she met his moss green eyes she couldn’t find her voice for a moment. “You must be Claire. I’m Owen.” Habit finally clicked in and she reached out to shake his hand. His skin was calloused and incredibly warm, and when he smiled at her she felt her stomach flip.

“It’s nice to meet you Owen.” He chuckled a bit and moved to sit across from her on the other side of the corner and she realized he was wearing board shorts. Panic started to creep back in… was this not supposed to be a date? Zara had definitely said date, multiple times. But maybe whoever it was that told Owen about this hadn’t had the same idea about it as Zara had? Who had talked to Owen about this whole thing anyways? What had Zara said- he was a friend of her fiancé’s? Or was he a friend of a friend?

“So we’ve got half an hour for ‘drinks and light conversation’, huh?” Oh god. He must have seen that damn schedule she’d typed up before she turned off her phone. To her horror she felt her face begin to turn red and she quickly shoved her phone into her purse, an easy excuse to break eye contact and try to compose herself.

“Sorry, that was… it was nothing. Forget it.” He smiled broadly at her again and she silently wished he would stop it, it made it hard to think.

“Consider it forgotten.” She met his eyes again and immediately felt uncomfortable. Who maintained that much eye contact with somebody they just met?

“So, how did you know it was me?” ‘Oh yes, what a brilliant way to start a conversation, good one Claire.’ She needed a drink, she needed to stop analyzing every little thing.

“Zach said to look for a gorgeous red head who would probably be on her phone.” Wait, was he teasing her or criticizing her? He was smiling, so teasing? Hopefully teasing. “He was right.”

“I was just checking the time before putting my phone away!” Oh yes, this was going just wonderfully. Being defensive was definitely going to help.

“I meant the gorgeous part Claire.” His voice had softened a little, the teasing edge fading away and she felt herself blush again. She hadn’t felt this off balance in years, it really alarmed her. Thankfully the bartender chose that moment to come up to them.

“Hey folks, what can I get ya? Margaritas are two for one until nine.” As tempting as it was to have a drink to calm her down, she worried that she’d just end up making even more of an ass of herself if her inhibitions were lowered.

“I’ll just have water.” Claire looked up at the bartender and felt her eyes narrow. The woman’s top was incredibly low cut and she was leaning over the bar towards Owen, smiling broadly at him. Wait, jealousy? What on earth was happening to her?

“And for you hun?” To his credit he hardly glanced at her as he ordered a beer and she sulked away with a muttered “Right away.”

“Don’t you drink?” Yes, she drank, but not when she was acting like a twelve year old talking to the first boy she’d ever had a crush on. 

“I’m on a diet.” No. No no no no no she had not just said that. She plowed on, hoping desperately that somehow he had magically missed her last comment. “So,   
what do you do? Zara said you work for InGen but not much else.” His eyes sparkled at her and she knew he had missed nothing, but he seemed willing to go along with her obvious desire to pretend she hadn’t said anything.

“I’m working with the Raptors. Officially I am ‘Assessing Their Intelligence and Teamwork Behavior Patterns’.” She didn’t know much about the Velociraptors, they fell under the research side of the park and she dealt with the public side. The raptors were not slotted to become attractions for another five to seven years so their program rarely came to her attention.

“And how does one do that, exactly? They’re too big to run mazes. Or are they still young?”

“They’re young yeah, but they’re full grown. And they’d figure out a maze within a few minutes, memorize it, and then hold a grudge against whoever watched them run it because they’d know damn well that person was involved.”

“I doubt that, they’re just animals.” He shook his head at that and leaned in, dropping his voice a bit as the bartender slid their drinks in front of them.

“Believe me, they’re a hell of a lot smarter than you’d think. I’ve trained military dogs, falcons, and I had a short stint working with a lion. These girls are so far beyond them it’s not even funny. And they remember everything.”

“You’re training them.” Her voice was incredulous as she looked at him, baffled. 

“Yeah.” So matter of fact, like it was no big deal that he was training extinct predators that were larger than he was.

“Like a dog? What, to lay down and roll over?” He burst out laughing at that and for a moment Claire reveled in the sound of it. He seemed like the kind of man   
who laughed easily and often.

“No, to hunt. But to not hunt me or anything else I tell them not to.” Business Claire had been trying to claw her way into the conversation as she quickly did mental calculations. The I-Rex would be ready to release to the public in about a year, assuming the necessary sponsors came through in the next six months. Attendance would soar for about two years, before beginning to level off. Then they would introduce a new herbivore and interactive ride, bringing the numbers up for about a year. Then it would be time for another thrilling attraction, and raptors that hunted on command? It could be the perfect follow up to the I-Rex.

“How well trained are they? And how would they react to an audience? How many times do they eat in a day before they are full and less likely to put on a good show?” He was shaking his head at this point and he broke in before she could continue.

“It’s never gonna happen. They’ve got too much pride to perform on command. They trust me, and they respect me. And those are the only reasons they choose to do what I ask.”

“Pride? You’re joking, right? They’re just animals!”

“And you don’t think animals feel emotions?”

“Instincts, yes. But complex and abstract concepts like pride? Of course not! They’d have to be self-aware for that!”

“Your parents never let you have a pet growing up, did they?” she frowned deeply at him, irritated that he was making an assumption that just happened to be right.

“My sister had a gold fish when I was five.” She left out the part where she had dumped half of its food into its bowl thinking it was hungry and had killed it. He laughed at that, shaking his head.

“I’ll tell you what, you come spend a few days with me and my girls and if you still think they don’t feel emotions and have free will at the end of it then we’ll talk about teaching them sit and roll over for one of your shows.” He was making her sound like a naïve child, and she hated being placated. ‘Teasing, just teasing!’ some part of her mind supplied but she was too on edge to listen to it.

“Look, if it’s a matter of them not being well trained enough to listen to you we can pay for experts to come in and give you some tips.” The smile faded from his face as he looked at her incredulously.

“What experts? I have spent more time with those raptors than any other human in the existence of our species has ever spent with raptors. You want to talk about experts? You’re looking at one of two men, in the entire WORLD, who have any idea what’s going on in their heads, and I taught the other one everything he knows.” Somehow, in the course of the conversation they had locked eyes with each other and now neither one was willing to look away and concede to the other. In the back of her mind Claire was wondering if Zara was insane to set her up with somebody who was clearly just as stubborn as she was. The silence deepened as the tension between them stretched tighter. Oh yes, this was going just wonderfully.

“Hey, a table just opened up if you guys would like to order food tonight.” The bartender had come back up and it startled Claire, causing her to jump just a bit and turn to look where she was pointing. She missed the smirk and look of triumph that flashed across Owen’s face because he was smart enough to hide it before she turned back to him.

“How about a truce? No more work talk tonight. There have got to be more interesting things to talk about anyways.” She had looked away first, but he had offered her a way out of the situation. Not sure who had the upper hand now, or why it even mattered because he was smiling again and her thoughts were getting all muddled, she offered a weak smile back and nodded.

“Deal.” They both grabbed their drinks and made their way to the table. At one point Claire thought she felt the lightest of brushes against the small of her back from Owen’s hand, but it was gone before she was sure. It still made her shiver though. Almost the moment they sat down a waiter brought over two menus and told them about the specials, but Claire didn’t really hear a word he said. She was too busy trying to compose herself. How had he managed to goad her into getting so fired up? One of the reasons she was good at her job was because she was always calm and collected, at least outwardly! She didn’t argue with people, she presented her well thought out and logical reasoning and they almost always agreed with her! Debate team had taught her how to win people over to her side, something she had always been good at anyways. She wasn’t used to people standing up to her, at least not since she’d been promoted.

“Have you eaten here before?” She figured that was a safe direction to turn the conversation.

“A few times, yeah. Their ceviche is really good.” She glanced up at him, surprised.

“That’s what I was just thinking about ordering.” He smiled again, as if he knew a secret and she didn’t.

“Well what do you know, we’ve got at least one thing in common.” The playful tone was back in his voice and she had to give him credit for it. After the way she’d been reacting tonight it was brave of him to keep trying to tease her. But then, he trained Velociraptors. Brave was probably a huge understatement. His eyes warmed and she realized she was smiling at him. The moment she became aware of it she felt herself start to blush again and she quickly turned back to the menu, cursing her genes for making it so easy to read her.

“So tell me something about yourself that has nothing to do with work.” Before she could answer the waiter came back and took their orders, which Claire was grateful for because she had no idea how to answer the question. She decided on the safest answer she could think of.

“I grew up in Minnesota, outside of Minneapolis. I always hated the winters there. That was a huge draw for me when I moved here, not having to deal with below freezing temperatures ever again.”

“Does your sister still live there?” Wait, how did he know she had a sister? Oh yes, the gold fish. Wow, he really paid attention to things.

“Yeah, with her husband and two kids. I haven’t seen them in a few years though.” She didn’t dwell on that thought, she knew it had been too long since she had seen them. She wasn’t even sure exactly how long it had been, but it wasn’t like she could just take a vacation, there was nobody else she trusted to run the park for a week straight. Besides, the boys were coming to visit her in three months, she’d see them then.

“I haven’t made it home for a couple of years either. My brother is getting married in the fall though and I’ll be going back for that.”

“Where’s home for you?”

“Montana. My family has a ranch up there.” Of course they did. Nothing about this man suggested city boy.

“A horses and cowboy hats kind of ranch?” he laughed and admitted that yes, he did own a cowboy hat and even cowboy boots back at home.

“I always wanted to travel though. But, it’s hard to make a living on a ranch and there was no money for me to go to college, much less travel. So I enrolled in the Naval Academy. It seemed like a great idea at the time, school and travel all in one, plus I was paid to do it.”

“A great idea at the time, do you regret it now?” Something flashed through his eyes and Claire realized how incredibly personal of a question it was and wished she could take it back.

“No, I don’t believe in regrets. If I hadn’t joined up I wouldn’t be here having dinner with you.” She stared at him, fighting a smile.

“Corny. Really corny.”

“No no no, I don’t do corny.” He was smiling broadly again and Claire couldn’t help but smile back. “That was smooth. Clever. Witty, even.” At that she laughed   
and shook her head.

“I’m sorry to tell you, but it was cliché and corny.”

“Well you thinking it’s cliché is pretty cliché in and of itself.”

“What?”

“Everyone always says lines like that are cliché but nobody ever realizes that what’s even more cliché is that people think they’re cliché. I mean think about it, there a ton of different lines that get labeled as that, lots of variety, and variety isn’t cliché. But finding a line corny and cliché happens way more often than any particular line being used. So you thinking its cliché is even more cliché than what I said.” He looked so smug and proud of himself, and Claire just sat there for a moment blinking at him.

“How long have you been carrying that idea around with you?”

“I just came up with it. I’m witty, remember?” This coaxed yet another laugh from her and she realized that she had laughed more tonight than she had in weeks.

“Well I’m sure you won’t let me forget it.”

“Damn straight.” They lapsed into silence and Owen took a long drink of his beer, his eyes never leaving her face. “What’s your favorite book?” The question surprised her, she’d never been asked that on a date before.

“It depends on the genera. I’ve never been able to pick just one.”

“Ok, classics.”

“The Great Gatsby.” He rolled his eyes at this and leaned further across the table, closing some of the distance between them.

“Seriously? Daisy is one of the cruelest women ever written, and everyone dismisses it as not her fault because she’s weak.” Wait, he had read Gatsby? He was right about Daisy though.

“I like the book, not Daisy. It evokes so much feeling, so much hope and disappointment, sadness and loss… I like books that move me, even if they’re ultimately sad.”

“I suppose you like Wuthering Heights too then, since it’s basically the exact same story but in a different setting.” She frowned at him for a moment, thinking, before her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in shock.

“Oh my god, you’re right! Cathy is Daisy! Heathcliff is Gatsby! They’re even both told through the eyes of the outside narrator who’s the neighbor!” He laughed and she continued to stare at him, dumbfounded. She had been a literature minor in undergrad and she had never put that together. Who exactly was this man? Thankfully their food arrived while she was trying to wrap her brain around the fact that two of her favorite books were the same story and that she had never seen it before. And that a Velociraptor trainer had been the one to point it out to her.

“You’ll have to get used to it.”

“To what?”

“To me blowing your mind. It’s going to happen. Often.” His eyes were locked with hers and his voice had dropped an octave or two, causing her to flush yet again.

“We’ll see.” Oh yes, such a witty come back. How on earth did this man have her so flustered? He simply smiled that ‘I have a secret you don’t know’ smile again in response.

“What’s your favorite book? And I swear if you say On The Road I am walking out of this restaurant right now.”

“What do have against Kerouac?”

“Nothing, but you want to talk about clichés? Almost every man I’ve ever talked to pulls that one out as his supposed favorite. Alcohol, drugs, and destination-less meandering. It’s like it’s the most socially accepted yet still intelligent sounding answer so it’s what every guy goes with.”

“Talk to a lot of men about their favorite books do you?”

“Well, no. Not a lot, but enough.”

“How many?” He was never going to let her get away with anything was he?

“A few.”

“So three?”

“Yes, fine. Three.”

“Including me?”

“No I’m not including you because you haven’t answered the question yet.”

“So three men, total, ever, have told you their favorite book was On The Road and now you assume all men must think exactly the same way and have exactly the same opinion?” He was teasing her again, but she could tell there was more to this conversation then it seemed. He was trying to figure something out about her, but she didn’t know what it was and it made her uncomfortable. She shifted in her seat, her eyes glued to the food in front of her, when she suddenly realized how quickly he had turned the whole thing around on her and trapped her. She felt her eyes narrow and her shoulders square as her gaze snapped back up to him.

“100% of the men who I’ve talked to about their favorite book have answered with On The Road and 100% of those men did not in any way impress me with their answer. So Owen, tell me, what is your favorite book?”

He smiled at her, looking almost impressed. “The Stranger.”

“What?”

“You know, by Camus.”

“I know who it’s by thank you. I’m just surprised, I haven’t met many people who have read it.”

“Surprised, or impressed?” 

“Impressed.” And she was. Impressed and completely hooked. She wanted to know more about him. She had a hundred different questions battling it out in her head right now, dying to be asked. She wanted him to tease her and lock eyes with her and make her feel like she was spinning out of control. And god did she want him to touch her. He hadn’t so much as brushed hands with her since they sat down and it was starting to irk her. Not that he wasn’t touching her, but that she wanted him to so desperately. She didn’t indulge in things she craved. She didn’t like it when things had any power over her. Not chocolate, not wine, and definitely not Velociraptor trainers who didn’t know how to dress for a date. Wait, maybe he wasn’t touching her because he didn’t think this was a date. She never had figured out what he thought this night was. He had called her gorgeous, that suggested date. But he’d worn board shorts. Not a date. He’d ignored the bartender- date. He’d teased her. A lot. She didn’t have a brother but didn’t brothers tease their sisters a lot? So… not a date? He hadn’t touched her since the hand shake, not a date. She cared. She really cared and really hoped that it was a date and she hated that she really cared and really hoped. She had to get control of this situation, of herself, somehow. Before she had a chance to figure out just how to do that Owen broke through her thoughts.

“Dance with me.” It wasn’t a question, it was more of a command and it sent her heart racing.

“What?” she blinked a few times, trying to gather her thoughts. Control, need to get control of the situation…

“Dance with me.” Again with the low, firm, and yet entreating voice that cut straight to her core. He stood up then and moved around to her side of the table, towering over her with his hand out in invitation.

“You’re wearing shorts.” Yes. Brilliant. That was the perfect thing to say. That was definitely going to help her get control. She cringed internally, sensing that he   
would see right through the attempt to keep the lead.

“Well then it’s a good thing dancing has no rules about what you wear when you do it. Or don’t wear for that matter.” His voice had dropped again and suddenly the scales in her mind shifted. He asked her to dance… date. He was being suggestive and… her mind tried to supply the word sexy but she wouldn’t let it go that far. Either way, date. She met his eyes and he smiled at her, and before she could stop herself she raised her hand to meet his. As warmth enveloped her palm he pulled her up, smiled broadly, and turned to lead her to the dance floor without letting go of her hand. Half way there she remembered that she was actually terrible at dancing and she felt herself begin to panic. She was awful at letting the man take the lead, it always turned into a tiny power struggle that was in no way graceful or comfortable. The one man she had come close to marrying had told her that if they ever tied the knot they were eloping because he refused to dance with her in public. He’d gone as far as to tell her she was emasculating him by not letting him lead. She had tried, she just couldn’t let go enough to trust him to guide her. 

“Wait, this isn’t a good idea-“They had reached the dance floor at this point and he pulled her into the center of it, maneuvering easily through several other couples as he did so.

“Yes it is. If you get any further into your head tonight something in there is going to break.” She frowned and opened her mouth to argue but before she could say a word one of his hands came to the small of her back and he stepped into her space, standing so close they were nearly touching. His other hand caught hers and she took a shaky breath, trying to find the willpower to step away. His scent flooded her… leather and sunshine and something deep and spicy and she found herself running her free hand up his arm to his shoulder. His very broad, very strong shoulder. 

He smiled his secretive smile again and suddenly they were moving. It was a slow song, sensual, the kind you danced to pressed close together before moving on to other activities that involved being pressed together… Claire’s mind supplied her with an image of Owen sliding the straps of her dress off her shoulders and down her arms before lowering his head to the place where her neck met her shoulder- no! She shook her head slightly, trying to rid it of the image, but it was nearly impossible. His hand on her back felt like it was on fire, and the warmth was radiating out through her at every point of contact. It was making her dizzy, fuzzy… to her surprise he was leading her effortlessly. How was he doing that? Just thinking about it caused her to stiffen, start to pull away, miss a step, but rather than trying to force her along with him like men had done in the past his fingers started tracing little circles low on her back and she melted against him. 

Just like that, and she was putty in his hands. She didn’t want to think, didn’t want to analyze it, she just wanted to be here on this dance floor with him for as long as possible. And that absolutely terrified her. People couldn’t be depended upon, they never did what she expected them to do. She couldn’t trust them, especially not when her emotions were involved. Emotions were a giant unknown that would swoop into her life and take over if they were strong enough. She had lived her life in a way to avoid that unknown as much as possible. She did what was safe, carefully considered every decision, spent time with people who didn’t have any chance of hurting her because she never felt very much for them. Her heart started racing frantically, adrenaline flooding her body. Fight, flight, or freeze? It was too much, too real. If she cared this much now, how much was she going to care a month from now, a year from now? 

“Just relax Claire, let go.” How the hell did he know what she was thinking? She stiffened and pulled away from him, ripping her hand from his grip as he didn’t release it easily. “Claire…”

“Let’s just go finish our food.” He voice came out a lot more harshly than she intended it, but before she could say something else to soften it Owen made a sound that sounded something like a growl and began rubbing the back of his neck in frustration.

“Why? So you can keep sitting there convincing yourself there’s nothing between us? Analyzing every damn word you say?” How? How could he see straight through her like that? She’d just met him and he knew her better than her ex’s had after years. 

“That’s not- I’m not doing that. You shouldn’t make assumptions-“

“Some things can’t be planned or analyzed or controlled! They just have to be experienced. Just let yourself feel SOMETHING.” The words hit her like a punch in the gut, momentarily stealing her breath. How many times in her life had she heard that? How many times had that phrase, or something like it, been hurled at her like a mace, meant to punish her or break her? They were words that would send her rushing back behind every wall she had ever built to protect herself. It was the worst possible thing he could have said to her. She felt her face become a mask, her shoulders straightening and her chin coming up, her eyes distant and cold.

“You don’t read people as well as you think you do Mr. Grady. And I don’t need to convince myself there is nothing between us because as you so kindly pointed out, I don’t feel anything. I don’t know what Zara was thinking when she arranged this, we have nothing in common and we live in two very different worlds.” They stood facing each other, both tense, and after a couple of seconds of it Claire couldn’t take it anymore.

“It was nice to meet you Mr. Grady.” She started to turn away, but the smallest, tiniest part of her was hoping that he would reach out and stop her, but she just heard him sigh heavily behind her.

“You’re too damn stubborn for your own good. Come find me when you stop lying to yourself. I’ll show you how to have a good time.” It took everything in her power to not to turn around and slap him, but the last thing she wanted to do was cause even more of a scene then they already had. She walked as quickly as she could to the table with her cheeks burning, caught the strap of her purse and pulled a few bills out of, dropping them on the table without looking back.


	2. Chapter 2

“Owen! There you are son!” He heard the clattering of heavy footsteps coming up the metal stairs on the side of the enclosure and blatantly ignored them as well as the man who was creating them. Directly below him Blue was glowering up at him, growling occasionally. And he was scowling right back, eyes narrowed. “Hey, did you hear me son?” Of course he heard him. Everything within sight had heard him. Blue had definitely heard him, but she hadn’t taken her eyes off of Owen. Another growl rolled out from her chest and Owen raised his chin a bit, glaring daggers down at her.

“I’m busy right now Hoskins. Give me a few minutes.” The words were forced through clenched teeth and he saw his boss look at him, then at Blue, then back at him from the corner of his eye.

“What are you teaching her?” In his mind he turned and screamed at Hoskins, venting all of his frustration from the last couple of months at him. He was so damn tired of people having ideas or opinions about how he should be doing his job. And it had all started with that impossible woman… 

“If you don’t want me to lose months’ worth of progress then you need to get down on the ground now and let me do my job. Find Barry, he’ll fill you in. I don’t have time right now.” Hoskins might be annoying as hell, but he was alright as far as bosses go. He’d spent enough time as a soldier to recognize the blatant truth in Owen’s voice, and with one last glance at the raptor whose gaze hadn’t wavered once he nodded decisively.

“Alright, carry on. And send me the weekly report this time, got it?” He didn’t respond in any way and was relieved when the walkway rattled with his retreating steps. Free of distractions Owen refocused all of his attention on the animal below him. Even though his eyes had never left her she could feel the difference of his full attention and she crouched lower to the ground, her neck curled back, growling almost continuously now. Amazingly, her sisters were off lounging in the shade, waiting to see how this would play out. He was grateful for that, this was between him and Blue, not him and the pack.

The day had been absolute shit. A realization had started swirling through his mind after the disastrous date with Claire, and with it a plan had formed. Today he had decided to enact it and Blue was PISSED.

Watching Claire cling so desperately to the belief that she was in control of the situation had irked the hell out of him during their evening together. It had triggered him, made him want to do whatever it took to get through to her, to get her to just let go and be in the moment. He knew it was a bad idea, that he was pushing her way too hard, but he hadn’t been able to help himself. It was like sitting in a meeting with a pen… no matter how hard he tried, no matter how professional he wanted to appear he’d pick up the damn pen and start spinning it over the top of his hand with his fingers without even realizing it. 

After she had stormed off, even paying for their meal which was just the insulting icing on top of a horrible cake of an ending, he had made his way over to the bar and ordered four shots of tequila. He didn’t down them all at once, he sat there with them in front of him, brooding. The bartender from earlier had tried desperately to draw him into conversation but her heavy makeup and tight clothes just made him think of how Claire hadn’t needed any of that and he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off of her.

When Barry had told him that his friend Zach was trying to set up his fiancé’s boss he had laughed, telling him good luck with that. Setups always went so well after all, and it wouldn’t be awkward at all to set your boss up on a bad date. But then he had been fed the whole sob story about Zara wanting a month off for her honeymoon and wanting her boss to be in a good mood when she asked her and Owen had started to get suspicious. 

Sure enough, a couple of days later Barry brought it up again, talking about how smart and gorgeous (seriously, who said anybody was gorgeous anymore?) the woman was and how Zach still hadn’t found anybody that he thought could handle her. She was stubborn, driven, a lot like you, Barry had said. Owen had refused to take the bait, but it hadn’t mattered in the end. Friday night rolled around and he was planning on having a couple of beers with Barry and turning in early. He’ d been up since four, the day had been painfully hot, even for central America, and he had wanted to work with his girls before the temperature got too high.

He was running late, and when he reached Barry’s apartment it was already 7:45 and his friend was waiting anxiously on the front porch. He should have known something was up then and there. When he found out that Barry and Zach had arranged the date without even telling him he had been irritated. When he realized that if he left right now he would still be late he was pissed. And when he caught sight of himself in the front window he had told Barry to go to hell and decided he needed to find some new friends. And then he had booked it to the restaurant because he was a gentleman damnit and he wasn’t going to stand a woman up who was expecting him (just as Barry knew he would).

It wasn’t until he had walked in and saw her sitting at the bar, her back to him, that he began to feel nervous. She held herself with a gentle poise that was hard to come by these days. Not wanting to be any later than he already was he hurried across the room, eyes glued to her. She jumped when she saw him reflected in her phone and it tipped him off to how nervous she was. It made him smile; to think that she ran the whole damn park every day but was nervous about a blind date. Nervous enough to write up an itinerary. Then she had turned to face him and he felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Or whipped by a raptor tail. Giant blue eyes looked up at him and he was reminded why it was his favorite color. The light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks softened her, even as her haircut tried to counteract the effect.

Her skin was satiny smooth as he shook her hand and he silently took back every curse he had thrown at Barry earlier for arranging this. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head, trying to figure out what to say next, and before he could stop himself he was teasing her about the schedule. In kindergarten he’d been the boy who’d pull a girl’s pigtail to get her to chase him. In fifth grade he’d caught a frog and hidden it in a girls desk with a note that said ‘Kiss Owen he’s a Prince”. In high school it had started shifting to witty banter… the longer a girl could keep up the harder he fell.

When he told her she was gorgeous she had blushed and looked down, hiding her face with her hair. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to reach out and run his fingers through it to get her to look at him again. They’d hardly said two complete sentences to each other, it was too soon. He didn’t want to scare her off.

He knew she thought he missed her little glare at the bartender, but of course he hadn’t, and it made him want to grin like a fool. He was a little surprised that she didn’t notice how entirely focused on her she was. It was part of why he was so good at his job, he had a natural ability to focus entirely on the present moment, without the distractions of worrying about whatever would happen next. The reality was nobody could ever know what was coming next and he had stopped fighting against that truth a long time ago. It allowed him to react from a place of instinct, and it had saved his life while he was with the SEALs more than once, not to mention with the raptors. And right now, she had captivated every ounce of his attention.

Arguing with her about the raptors had been way too much fun. Yes, he had been annoyed that she didn’t believe him about how smart his girls were, but watching her get fired up, seeing so much passion burning behind her eyes for something as impersonal as work… he’d do or say anything to get her to light up like that again. And then all of that fire had been directed at him and she refused to look away and he was pretty sure he was seeing a part of the true Claire. The one that was free of all of the mind chatter and the analyzing, who was stubborn and fierce and strong as steel. They were qualities he absolutely loved in women, but they were hard to find. No matter what anybody said society still taught women to be meek and quiet, to back down easily.

She jumped when the waitress addressed them and he wondered silently how it would go if he offered to help her release some of that tension that was causing her to have such a strong startle reflex. Probably not very well… yet. As they walked to the table he had reached out to guide her with his hand against her back, but he had pulled away at the last second when the silky dress brushed against his fingers. She wasn’t the kind of woman who would want to be led, not until she invited it.

Once they were seated at the table he had gotten a real smile out of her he was floored. Did this woman have any idea how beautiful she was? When she blushed a moment later he realized that she probably didn’t. And hadn’t she said something about a diet? He silently railed against whoever in her past had taught her to see flaws when she looked into mirrors instead of the truth. 

She asked him if he regretted joining the Navy and he was surprised that the truth almost slipped out of him. He’d had to do things he wished he could take back. It’d changed him, and he often wondered if it had been for the worse. But nobody knew that. He kept it to himself because the things that had happened simply were. He couldn’t go back and change them. It wasn’t a problem he could puzzle out and fix, it just was. So he didn’t talk about it, didn’t dwell on it. He didn’t know why he almost told her the truth, he felt off balance and almost… startled with himself. So he’d answered with the first thing he could think of, cringing internally when he realized how corny it came out. And she hadn’t let him get away with it. It gave him a thrill that she was teasing him back, maybe she was finally relaxing. Letting down her guard. But as soon as they lapsed into silence he could see her starting to slip back into her head and to prevent it he threw the first question he could think of at her. 

They talked books, and Owen realized that even if all he got to do was talk to her for the rest of the night, he would be ecstatic. Then she lumped him in with ‘all men’ who she’d talked to about books and it irked him. He didn’t want to be put in a category of guys who were stupid enough to lose her. THAT really surprised him. They’d spent maybe 45 minutes together and he wanted to stand out, to be the exception to whatever idiots she had dated in the past that had caused her to build such high walls around herself. It put him a little on edge. He wasn’t used to worrying about the outcome of things.

Then, somehow, she had spun the whole thing around on him, impressing the hell out of him. She was feisty when cornered, and it made him want to corner her more often. Then he watched as a whole host of emotions flickered across her expressive face. Intrigue, longing, surprise, worry, she was spiraling back down behind those damn walls he was ready to take a sledgehammer to. Acting on instinct he asked her to dance, partially because he thought it would help her get out of her head but mostly because he wanted an excuse to be closer to her. What kind of restaurant uses tables that were so big anyways? She fought him, wanting to stay safe and distant, she even threw his outfit in his face, but he was persistent because he could see a part of the true Claire dying to come out and play.

Even after she had taken his hand she balked again on the dance floor, and rather than indulge the part of her that was determined to keep everything under her control he did what he’d been dying to do all night and wrapped an arm around her, stepping in close enough to be surrounded with her scent. It was light, minty and citrusy and it had been teasing him all night, driving him mad because he was too far away and it was too faint. But now he took a deep breath of it and when she gave in and slid her hand up his arm to his shoulder he knew this moment would be seared into his mind, waiting to replay itself every time he smelled anything close to her scent again. 

She felt amazing in his arms, and he had to fight the urge to pull her flush against him. He was completely mesmerized and she wasn’t even trying. It wasn’t long though before her mind seemed to catch up and she stiffened, unconsciously refusing to move with him. Again he went with his gut and started tracing patterns on her back, hoping it would sooth her. It was instant, the tension left her body and she relaxed deeply into his arms, leaning closer to him, causing her dress to brush against his legs as they danced. He smiled softly and made a mental note of how to calm her down in the future.

For a few minutes it was easy, effortless for them to be there together, enjoying whatever this force was that was awakening between them. Owen started to think that maybe she had finally surrendered to the moment but then she stiffened again and he cursed inwardly. He tried to talk to her but it was as if it spooked her even more and when she tore her hand away from his and he felt the emptiness that bothered him more than he wanted it to he did the only thing he knew how to do, he pushed her. 

He saw her eyes widen with hurt and he knew some asshole in the past had wounded her with words similar to what he had said, but before he could fix it the real Claire was gone, locked so far inside of the cold, cooperate exec that suddenly stood in front of him he wondered if he had actually just imagined her.

She stormed off and he ordered shots, sulking at the bar, trying to untangle what exactly had just happened. 

‘You met the woman of your dreams and screwed it up in less than an hour.’ He took the first shot with a grimace, trying to shut the berating voice in his head up. He’d gotten impatient, pushed when he should have held back. He had seen how hard she was fighting with herself, he had just wanted to pull the real Claire out of all the facades so damn badly. Patience had never been one of his strongest qualities. He didn’t like waiting, he liked action. Waiting was for people who considered the pros and cons of every situation, and that sure as hell wasn’t him. He made gut decisions, acted on instinct, and let the pieces fall wherever they wanted. He didn’t dwell. Except now. Damnit.

The second shot burned less than the first and his thoughts turned to her desperate desire to hold on to control. It was all an illusion, and it frustrated him that she didn’t see that. But why? Most people walked around thinking they knew what was going to happen next, that they could choose every little thing that happened to them, and it didn’t bother him like it did with her.

‘She’s too smart for that shit.’ Wait, yeah. She was way too smart to believe she actually had control of everything that happened to her. So why did she carry on with it? It made her come off as high maintenance, calculating, cold… ah, of course. It was a defense mechanism, a shield she hid behind to keep everyone at arm’s length. The Claire behind it was nervous, unsure of herself, she’d been hurt at some point… and he had criticized her for it. Shit.

The third shot went down smooth and his thoughts started to get a little fuzzy, wandering to Claire then swerving away to his raptors… because they had talked about them? Or because drawing Claire out again was going to take just as much skill as training the raptors was taking? He chuckled at that, wondering how fiery she’d get if she ever heard him compare handling her to handling the raptors. She’d probably slap him. He thought she might have wanted to slap him tonight at the end and almost wished she had. Anything was better than the ice queen who showed no emotions that had walked away from him. Would she ever come find him? He doubted it. The fourth shot he took to try to quell the feeling of emptiness that filled his chest when he thought about that. She was just so damn stubborn and determined to keep herself blinded to what he wanted to show her.

Blue was the same way. She was so smart it scared him sometimes, but she wouldn’t learn a thing unless she chose to. And if he pissed her off she’d turn her back and ignore him too. Well, only because she couldn’t reach him to bite him. Damn stubborn, controlling women. He was definitely a little drunk at this point, something about Blue and Claire and control was trying desperately to reveal itself to him. He grabbed a napkin and a pen and scribbled everything that popped into his head down on it before leaving some cash on the bar and hauling himself out of the restaurant.

He’d slept on Barry’s couch and woken up with a hell of a hangover and a napkin clenched in his hand that said ‘Change the order, Blue thinks she’s in control’ along with a lot of other half thought out phrases that were crossed out or just unfinished. The whole thing had made him realize that Blue, being the incredibly prideful and intelligent creature that she was, had convinced herself that she was the one training him. Do an action to cue the alpha, get a rat. Look at the alpha, he will click. Owen had been keeping to a routine in their training thinking that it was helping to engrain the cues in the animals minds, and that might be true for Charlie, Delta, and Echo. But not for Blue. She thought she was in control. She couldn’t challenge him directly for alpha, so she had turned the tables on him and started training him, at least in her mind.

He’d told Barry about his theory but he had been skeptical. Even he didn’t think Blue was that smart. Owen had wanted to change the order of things in their training that very day to see what would happen but Barry had made the very good argument that if his theory wasn’t right he could lose all the progress he’d made with the raptors. If he told them a command and they did what they were supposed to do but didn’t get the reward they expected they could all decide he wasn’t trustworthy and that would be it. Nobody knew for sure, since nobody had ever trained raptors before, but it seemed pretty damn unlikely that you’d ever gain their trust back if you lost it.

So he’d agreed to wait and watch Blue more closely before enacting any plan. For the first month after the date he didn’t change anything, but now that he knew what to watch for he was positive that Blue was convinced she was controlling him. Barry had been watching closely as well, and he had reluctantly come around to Owen’s side. They had gone back and forth on what they could do, with Owen wanting to just take a day to throw every curve ball he could at the girls, change the order of all the training tasks as well as the rewards, and see how they handled it. But Barry had made the admittedly good point that it was just Blue who was the problem and it didn’t make sense to risk backsliding with the others if they didn’t have to. 

For weeks Owen had been testing the limits with Blue, and she had been doing the exact same thing. He’d wait longer to toss her a rat then he ever had before, or he’d make her keep her eyes on him while he crouched down then stood back up. He didn’t quite change any part of his routine though, just tweaked it enough to see if it bothered her. And oh had it bothered the hell out of her. The two of them had fallen into a very subtle power struggle, both of them pushing the boundaries with each other a little more every day. They were both frustrated and on edge, and yesterday Blue had tried to drag Charlie into the picture with them. 

Owen had ordered them to stop in the middle of a hunt. Usually he’d then reward them with rats. But he had realized over the past few weeks that every time he tossed a rat, just before it left his hand, Blue would lift her nose. It was driving him insane. She had convinced herself that the damn nose lift meant she was ordering him to toss the rat. And no matter how hard he tried she always moved faster than he did and managed to get the movement in while he was mid throw. This time, however, he had Barry up on the walkway with him and as soon as they stopped Barry let out a few whistles, drawing their attention, just as planned. While the raptors eyes were averted Owen tossed a rat down and it hit the ground with a thud, right next to Charlie. Excited for the treat she had turned to snatch it but before she could Blue had whipped her neck around, nipping Charlie’s nose harshly, then turning to glare at Owen. She had proceeded to pick the rat up in her mouth and toss it back up to him, growling. Then, without breaking eye contact, she had lifted her nose, essentially daring him to disobey her again.

Barry stood watching the exchange, completely dumbfounded, as Owen picked up the bucket of rats and walked calmly across the enclosure, ignoring the hungry shrieks and Blue’s snarl that followed him. She even jumped upward at the walkway underneath of him, something she hadn’t tried for over a year. The second he was out of sight of the girls though he threw the bucket as hard as he could, frustration rolling from him in waves. It hit a tree and dented, the rats spilling out on the jungle floor. He wanted to scream but he knew Blue would hear him and he didn’t want her to know she was getting to him. Because yes, he was sure she would use it against him. Damn brilliant shit.

He’d spent half the night tearing his bike apart and then putting it back together because he needed to fix SOMETHING. For the first time with the Raptors he had no idea what to do. He’d been there when they had hatched, he had worked with them nearly every day for the last two and a half years, hell he had hand fed them when they were smaller. They knew him, they trusted him, they considered him the alpha… but at the end of the day he wasn’t one of them and Blue knew it. She’d accepted him thus far because he could do so many things she couldn’t. He was smarter than her, and somehow she understood that. But she didn’t like it, and with this new behavior of hers she was starting to forget it. If he lost her she would lose the whole pack and it would be over. Some higher up would come and decide their usefulness was limited to scaring kids, they’d be moved to a smaller cage closer to the main park with lots of windows so they could be gawked at by 20,000 people a day who couldn’t care less about their wellbeing. He couldn’t let that happen.

Dreams of flashing claws and shrieks kept him on edge all night, and when the sun began to rise over his bungalow he gave up and rolled out of bed, getting dressed methodically. All he’d done since that damn date was second guess himself with the raptors. He didn’t know if it was realizing what Blue was doing or the fact that for the first time he regretted acting on gut instinct with Claire, but it had to end. If he didn’t act, he was going to lose them.

When he reached the enclosure he walked up the stairs ready to go to war. He turned the whole training routine on its head, pushing the raptors like he had never done before. He had them running back and forth across the paddock, tossing rats at random whenever they were doing what he asked rather than waiting for them to line up and wait like he usually did. He’d have them stop and change direction mid run, and if he hadn’t been so pissed that Blue was ignoring him and snapping at her sisters he would have been proud at how well the other three were doing. Hours later while the sun was beating down on them he had released a pig and ordered them to go hunt, acting on a hunch. Blue had refused to do a single thing he had asked all day, and he was betting her stubbornness would keep her from participating in this too. Sure enough the other three took off after the pig, and this time he let them take it. Their delighted shrieks left Blue pacing, alternating between glaring at her sisters and glaring at Owen. She had to be hungry. He had told the handlers to only drop half the usual amount of food at the evening feeding, and she hadn’t eaten a single rat he had thrown down that day. The smell of fresh meat was probably driving her insane.

It did exactly what he hoped it would. Charlie, Echo, and Delta were exhausted, full, hot, and almost as soon as they had finished with the pig they retreated to the shade to watch the standoff between the other two.

“Eyes on me.” Nothing. Not even a tail twitch. “Damnit Blue, I’ve had enough of this shit. You hear me?” his voice was low and stern, a challenge, and he faced her dead on and let out an earsplitting whistle. It meant wait, which she was essentially already doing, and she whipped her head around to glare at him, crouching down. The tension between them thickened and Owen knew this was the state he had been trying to bring her to all day. They were both exhausted, hungry, hot, and pissed off. Owen controlled the food, and she knew it. She also knew that none of her usual cues she had slipped in without him noticing were working anymore. He had ripped away her illusion of control, and now it all came down to whether or not she respected him enough underneath it all to work with him. He hated to admit it, but he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to get her back. He sure as hell was going to give it everything he had though. If he had to stand here in the sweltering heat all day he would. All night too, if it came to that. He was not coming down off this walkway until he was sure one way or the other.

She leapt at the metal grating again and he yelled at her to stand down. She responded with a deep growl but she didn’t jump again and Owen felt a rush of relief. He didn’t think she actually wanted to hurt him, she just wanted to see how far she could push him. It was a tiny concession, but it gave him hope.

They spent the next two hours trying to order each other to do things. Owen would say ‘eyes on me’ and she would look, but immediately raise her nose, demanding that he toss her food. He would try to get her to move along with him to another part of the enclosure and she would do a head bob that he hadn’t even noticed her doing every time he clicked before today. Her sisters had dozed off from time to time, but for the most part they had been watching with slight interest. When Blue passed them she would snap at them, angry with the whole situation and desperate to take it out on somebody.

Sweat had long since soaked through Owen’s clothes. His whole body ached from the tension that he had been holding all morning and his head was throbbing because he hadn’t been drinking anywhere near enough water. Blue wasn’t in any better shape than him, and her frustration was starting to get the best of her. Deciding it was now or never Owen raised his hand, letting her know that he’d be releasing her to hunt. He heard the handlers down below loading a pig into the chute and she looked frantically between him and opening where the pig would be released. She knew she needed to bark up at him and meet his eyes before he would release it, but she was at battle with herself. She ran over to the door to the chute and tried to claw her way though it but it was built to withstand just such attacks and she got nowhere. She went back to pacing and Owen waited. And waited. And waited.

An hour passed before she barked but she refused to look at him, so he refused to release the pig. That’s when the growling had started. She had been pacing back and forth in front of him growling almost continuously for half an hour when she finally stopped moving and stood directly below him, locking eyes. This was it. The moment Owen had been waiting for all day. She was finally challenging him and he sure as hell wasn’t going to back down. As long as she had avoided confronting him directly she’d been able to refuse to listen to him, to try and get her way, but now that she had locked eyes with him whoever gave in first and looked away would be submitting to the other. And if it was Blue, he was 99% sure she’d accept him as alpha again.

Of course that was when Hoskins had decided to show up, but Owen had managed to get rid of him fairly easily. He could imagine he looked a little deranged right now. He’d been on this walkway locked into a battle of wills with a velociraptor for the last seven hours. He heard the faint voices of Hoskins and Barry down below, but he ignored them, focusing solely on Blue. Everything else started to fade into the background and he forgot about how hot and tired he was. Two and a half years and it was all coming down to this. Looking down at Blue, at his stubborn, prideful girl, he saw that he couldn’t push her any further. He’d lose the respect he had worked so hard to gain. She had to come to him now.

He relaxed his stance slightly, shifting so he didn’t look so aggressive, but he never broke eye contact. After a few minutes Blue stopped growling but she didn’t move from her ready to pounce stance. Owen was patient though; he knew he could wait her out. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed but the sun had crept further in the sky and he guessed it had been at least half an hour when the pig started rattling the door of the chute. And just like that, with no dramatic ending, Blue whipped her head around to look at where the sound was coming from, then turned back to him and barked. He immediately hit the button that released the pig and watched as it went running into the enclosure, Blue trembling below him but not moving. With a wide grin he whistled, releasing her, and she tore after it with a shriek. Her sisters had jumped to their feet as well but Owen called for them to stand down, wanting Blue to have the pig for herself. They listened to him, but he wasn’t sure if it was because they were full or because Blue was glaring daggers at them over the carcass she was already tearing into.

“That was damn good Blue.” She looked up at him and chirruped happily before returning to her feast.

Owen was beaming as he came down off of the enclosure and he looked around for Barry but he was nowhere to be seen. One of the other handlers told him that Hoskins had pulled him away to the lab for the afternoon and he bit back some disappointment. He wanted to celebrate, he’d gotten his girls back! He told the younger man to give the raptors more than their regular amount of meat at the evening feeding, he wanted to make sure they knew they got well taken care of for working with him.

With a final happy look into the enclosure at his girls, all of whom were sleeping in the shade now, he hopped on his bike and headed home, wanting nothing more than a shower and sleep. Well, ok, he wanted to tell somebody what had happened more than either of those things. But other than Barry he wasn’t close to anyone on the island.

Blue eyes and freckled skin popped into his head uninvited and he sighed, wishing there was some way he could reach out to Claire without pissing her off. It’d been two months, he hadn’t called her after she had stormed out on him, and she obviously hadn’t come find him like he suggested she should. The memory of her pulling her hand away from his as she fell back behind those walls of hers still ate at him, dampening his joy from a few moments before. But it didn’t last long as he realized that if he could get Blue back he could definitely find a way to win Claire over, at least enough to get a second date. It was just going to take some patience…


	3. Chapter 3

Three months passed quickly for Claire. Her days were consumed with running the park as always and her evenings were taken up with countless emails, conference calls, and dinner meetings to ensure sponsorship of the I-Rex. It had come down to Verizon, Apple, and AMC, though it seemed like Verizon was more interested than the other two. The CFOs of the three companies would be visiting the island over the course of the next week and she was essentially going to be on call 24/7. Masrani Co. had promised her a huge bonus when she landed one of them, but the money wasn’t what was motivating her. There had been talk on the Board of Directors lately about establishing a second park closer to Europe. Ideas were being thrown around about an island in the Mediterranean… they had approached Claire just a few weeks before and told her that while nothing was certain yet, and it would take several years before they could even break ground on the new location, but would she have any interest in being involved from the start and eventually replace herself at Jurassic World and relocate to the new location?

Her answer had been an immediate and resounding yes. Help to design a park from day one? Live in the Mediterranean? Were they kidding? Then they had told her that moving forward with the European park hinged on securing funding for the I-Rex, without it the new park would just be a dream for at least another ten years. So she had submerged herself in work even more deeply than she usually did. She’d even asked her sister to reschedule the boy’s visit but that conversation had not gone well and Claire had promised to take some time off while they were there, which meant even longer hours in the few days she had left before they arrived. At night she fell into bed utterly exhausted, usually snagging only 4 or 5 hours of sleep before she was pulled back to consciousness by her alarm. 

She wasn’t blind to what she was doing. Burying herself in work to avoid processing difficult emotions had always been her pattern. She hadn’t even been planning on applying for college until her father had died suddenly in a car accident. She was going to take a couple of years to go and travel around Europe, no plan, no destination… but when they’d lost him she got her first real look at grief and it had terrified her. Karen had cried for weeks and nothing Claire said helped, but their mom hadn’t even been able to get out of bed for months. Every day after school Claire would sit with her while she did her homework, telling her about her day, but it was like her mom was gone as well. 

She had been terrified of the grief, of the same thing happening to her, so she had thrown herself into her school work with a dedication she had never shown before. Essays and tests left her with too much time to think about the world without her dad in it though, and she realized with a shock that if she went to Europe then all she’d have was time to think about it. So she started filling her time with everything she could that would make her a better candidate to an Ivy League school. She joined every extracurricular she could and spent her weekends volunteering. 

By the time her mom had come to terms with the loss and had started participating in the world again her sweet, fun loving, adventurous Claire was gone. She had tried to talk to her about it but all Claire would say about it was that she realized she wanted more, that she wanted to accomplish something meaningful. What mother could argue with an answer like that? And sure enough, the work had paid off. She’d gotten into an amazing college program, then grad program, then a series of jobs that always led to something even better. It worked for her. A quick glance showed a capable, confident woman who was incredibly good at her job. Dig any deeper and the truth started to show… she had no idea how to cope with powerful emotions. She was terribly afraid of the power they held over people, herself included. So she did everything she could to avoid them. But when they coincided with her work, well that was when it got tricky for her.

The whole situation with the Indominus-Rex made her uncomfortable. Early on she had argued that creating a new predator that was larger than the T-Rex was unnecessary, everyone WANTED Rexy to be queen of the island. She was the most beloved, and feared, dinosaur they had. Guests raved about her and her exhibit. Sales of merchandise related to her had increased consistently since opening day. But Mr. Masrani had quoted Hammond about sparing no expense and making sure the park continued to help people realize how small and new they were… and Dr. Wu had reassured her repeatedly that they would have plenty of time while the siblings were young to learn their behavioral traits and build an enclosure that would keep them secure. Of course, that was when there had still BEEN a sibling. 

When they were a year old their food had been heavily laced with sedatives to determine the amount that would be needed to take them down if the need ever arose and to allow for a medical examination. They didn’t wake up for over twenty four hours… the lab had thought their bodies would metabolize the drugs more quickly than any other animal in the park because they had such a wide variety of animals represented in their genes. They’d been wrong, and when she’d woken up the Indominus was… different. More anxious, more aggressive. She had started by stumbling along the perimeter of her enclosure, still fighting the effects of the sedative while her sister slept on, unaware. 

As she had worked them out of her system she began to run, around and around and around, creating a trench in the soil within a few hours. Then she had started barking, screeching, and roaring almost continuously, terrifying the workers. They wanted to tranq her again, but the vets refused to allow it. It was a negative reaction to the sedatives, they said, that was causing this behavior in the first place. Then her sister had begun to wake up and she’d gone mad, screaming and attacking the still confused sibling, killing her easily. When she’d begun to eat her they had been ready to tranq her regardless, just so they could remove the body, but Dr. Wu had thought it best to just leave her alone. If one exposure to tranqs had affected her this badly, there was no telling what another dose would do. He had rattled off case studies about people who had gone in for routine surgeries and emerged as totally different people… confused, aggressive. Nobody knew exactly what it was that caused that small percentage of the population to react to sedatives in that way, but as far as he could tell that was what had just happened to their 26 million dollar genetically engineered dinosaur. So they’d left her alone, and she’d eaten every bit of her sister over the next few days, gorging herself and horrifying the few people who knew about the classified attraction.

The fact that the lab was keeping so quiet about what genomes they had used when they created her made Claire nervous. There weren’t many park files that she wasn’t able to access but everything about how the Indominus had been created was locked. She hated going to her paddock and avoided it as much as she could. That thing scared her like nothing else in the park did. She’d been there when it had lost it and killed her sister. It was the most violent thing Claire had ever witnessed her life. When ACU said they thought the walls should be higher she had immediately signed over the necessary funds to the construction crews, but it hadn’t eased her fears. 

Now she had to sell her as an incredible feat of genetic engineering and the triumph of the human will- the only one of her kind, the ultimate attraction to invest in. Claire couldn’t afford to let her real feelings for the creature show through to anyone. She was as much the face of Jurassic World as Mr. Masrani was. Decisions had been made and now this animal represented a huge amount of the park’s capital. How she actually felt about it was no longer relevant. All that mattered was that she was believable when she talked to the investors, when she sold it as an amazing addition to the park. The fact that she had nightmares about it and her hands shook every time she walked into its observatory had to be suppressed, hidden deep within her walls. She couldn’t afford any emotionalism right now if she wanted to get this promotion.

It was part of the reason why she had fled from Owen. Somehow he not only made her feel… well, EVERYTHING, but he also saw straight through her defenses. If it had been one or the other she might have been able to handle it, to start to ease her way back into the dangerous world of allowing herself to feel. But it had been too much, too fast. He SAW her, after just an hour together. Her defenses would never stand against him if she had kept dancing, seen him again, kissed him… 

She had rushed home after she left the restaurant, the two sides of herself battling between disappointed that he hadn’t chased after her and relieved that she could safely retreat back into her comfort zone. But as she lay in bed that night, alone, and painfully aware of how isolated she had become on the island she had been unable to stop the tears from slipping through. THIS was why she avoided things that made her feel out of control. There was so MUCH she didn’t allow herself to feel, so much just below the surface. Avoiding it had always seemed like the easier option.

She tried not to think of him again after that, but somehow his name was suddenly coming up in meetings. Or she would be forwarded a string of emails that he had been a responder on days before. One day she’d even walked into the control room to see a security camera live feed of him working with the raptors displayed across Lowery’s screen, which was unfortunately right in her line of sight. Her heart gave a little leap when she saw him and she snapped at her employee to get back to work. To which he had replied that watching for potentially tricky situations WAS his job and this ‘crazy badass’ had been in a ‘battle of wits’ with the raptor for hours. He’d muttered something under his breath about not knowing which one was Westly and which one was Vizzini and half the people in the room laughed while Claire just rolled her eyes before turning and leaving. She knew she wouldn’t be able to tear her eyes away from that screen as long as Owen filled it, so like always, she left. 

Before that date she’d had no idea he existed and now he was everywhere. You’d think a single man could disappear into a crowd of 500 employees and 20,000 guests, and maybe most men could, but not Owen. She had a feeling he wouldn’t fade into any background.

Between working the extra hours, having to visit the Indominus enclosure nearly every day, and the unexpected shadow Owens popping up randomly she was stressed to the point of snapping. It was taking everything she had to keep herself pulled together and professional. Her nephews were due to arrive tomorrow and she was supposed to have tonight gloriously free and all to herself, but Zara had called her almost as soon as she walked into the door of her hotel suite and told her that the visitors from Verizon had arrived on the last ferry and they had invited her to dinner. Claire had nearly thrown her phone against the far wall. 

‘Invited’… what a joke. Invitations suggested that somebody could turn them down, Claire knew perfectly well that she couldn’t say no to them. She was going to try to convince them to spend 26 million dollars during their meeting tomorrow, that meant that if they wanted her company at dinner she would have to be there. So much for the bubble bath and 8 full hours of sleep she’d been eagerly awaiting all week.

“Have them meet me at the hotel restaurant at eight. And call down there and make sure they have a table reserved for us. I don’t want to have to wait when I get there. Then call me at 9:30 to let me know some meeting got moved up to 6 am so I have an easy out.” She might still be able to salvage the solid nights rest even if the bubble bath was doomed. She hung up her phone with a heavy sigh and leaned against the door she had just come through. She only had half an hour until she would need to be downstairs for dinner. She was wearing a light tan pencil skirt with a white silk shirt and she decided not to change. She knew perfectly well this wasn’t just a social evening and she wanted them to know that she realized that. All the better that she looked like she was going to a meeting.

With just a bit of time to kill she collapsed on the couch and pulled her laptop towards her, quickly signing into her email account. She had Zara going through it constantly and putting all the emails that were time sensitive into a folder marked urgent and responding to as many as possible herself, since Claire never seemed to get through them all on her own. For once the urgent folder had remained empty on her drive home so she started flipping through some of the other ones, typing back quick replies when they were needed. There were reports from the construction crew working on the Indominus structure promising it would be done by the end of the week, an update from Mr. Masrani saying he’d arrive around noon tomorrow and he wanted to see the new dinosaur, a couple of requests for vacation days from various people who worked in the control room, the weekly summary of the guest satisfaction surveys, and an update from InGen concerning ongoing research. 

She hesitated at that one, her mouse hovering over it, annoyed that she didn’t even know if it had anything to do with the raptors or their trainer and yet there was still a part of her that wanted to avoid it. Frowning at herself she opened it and sure enough, it was about the raptors and Owen. It looked like it was from his boss to her and Dr. Wu, informing them that Mr. Grady had had a large breakthrough with the raptors and that he felt it was time for the research program to be reviewed so that it could progress into phase two. He didn’t say what phase two was. He also didn’t say what the breakthrough was. He just insisted that Mr. Masrani needed to be made aware of the progress and could they please inform him as soon as possible. She rolled her eyes at that, as if the head of one of the largest companies in the world had time to approve a change in direction in a research program. She started to type out a clipped reply that she would have her assistant schedule a meeting for them to discuss the next step when she saw that there was a video attached to the email.

She didn’t want to look, she knew it was going to feature Owen and watching that video was not in line with the avoidance method she had been going with thus far. But she was alone, the only person who would know she had given in would be herself. Besides, it sort of fell under her responsibilities. Hoskins had taken the trouble to attach it, it must be important to the subject of the email, right?

A quick glance at the clock showed she still had ten minutes before she needed to leave to go downstairs and almost of its own will her hand hit play. The video popped open, filling her screen. It was clearly a security camera feed from the raptor paddock, dated three days earlier. The way it was angled it looked like it was positioned somewhere over Owen’s right shoulder, looking down on him and the raptors below him. It was visual only, no sound, yet she watched entranced as he raised his hand in a fist and the animals all lifted their heads, eyes locked on him. He moved confidently across the walkways, the raptors following him, staying in formation. When he released his hand they scattered, disappearing into the brush. He turned to look at something behind him then and the camera caught his broad smile and Claire slammed her computer shut violently. She didn’t want to see him or his damn smile. It made her think about taking him up on his offer of going to find him, and THAT was out of the question.

Deciding it didn’t matter if she was a few minutes early she tucked her phone into a small clutch and left the room, refusing to even look at her laptop again. The trio from Verizon was walking in just as she arrived and she quickly introduced herself, repeating Hal, Jim, and Erica over and over in her head. She’d never been particularly good at remembering names. They were immediately shown to a table and almost as soon as they settled in the business talk began.

“How many visitors does the park see on a daily basis?” That was Hal, she thought. She had gotten the two men mixed up and she made a mental note to look them up on google when she went to the restroom to see who was who.

“18,000 on an average day, but the numbers spiked to around 21,000 during high travel times, Christmas and summer. However when a new attraction is unveiled the numbers have reached nearly 24,000. The park is currently equipped to handle 25,000 visitors at most, but there are plans to increase the infrastructure in the next five years.”

“How much of a profit margin is there on merchandise?” The man who was possibly Jim asked this and internally she rolled her eyes. Why did people expect her to have numbers like that memorized to pull out at the drop of a hat?

“I wouldn’t want to mislead you, I’d be happy to set up a meeting with our head of merchandising for you, he’d be able to show you our annual reports so that you’d have the exact numbers.”

“What provider does the company currently use for their phone service?” 

“We’re under contract for the next two years, at which point we would consider new offers.” It wasn’t strictly true, but things could change a lot in two years and if they decided to offer them a better deal it would be something to talk about in the future.

“Would sponsorship of an attraction also mean that Verizon would be allowed to put a cell tower on the island? What about a store?” Claire felt the back of her neck begin to burn and she resisted the urge to scratch it. Her father had taught her and Karen how to play poker, much to their mother’s dismay, when they were still in elementary school. Claire had taken to it instantly, and she knew better than to let them see her irritation.

“I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves gentlemen. There will be plenty of time to iron out all of the details when the time comes. For now let’s just get to know each other and enjoy dinner, the lobster here is amazing.”

“Thank you Claire! We just arrived, I for one would like to wait until tomorrow for the nitty gritty.” That was Erica and Claire smiled sweetly at her.

“Have you ever been to the park before?”

“With what vacation days? You’re so lucky to work in paradise, you must never need to take a vacation.” Oh yes, the grass was always greener on the other side. Her neck was still prickling and when the waiter arrived Claire took the opportunity to turn slightly in her seat, trying to look behind her. She didn’t see anything, but she felt incredibly uncomfortable. Like she was being watched. Erica ordered a couple of bottles of wine for the table and they all ordered their food. The conversation turned lighter for a few minutes but it didn’t last long.

“What species exactly would we potentially sponsor?” This time it was Erica who asked the question and Claire held back a sigh. She knew the tactic well, try to put the person at ease and establish a ‘friendship’ so they would be more willing to reveal whatever they were searching for.

“You’ll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out, but I promise you, it will be well worth the wait.” Crimson eyes flashed through her mind and she held back a shudder.

“Would it be exclusive to Verizon if we decide to move forward?” Jim again, and Claire made a mental note to set up a meeting with the financial department heads as soon as possible, he seemed particularly concerned about the money details.

“That all remains to be seen, if that’s something you are interested in then we will craft the contract to reflect it.” The food hadn’t arrived yet and Claire took the opportunity to excuse herself for a moment, claiming she had an important phone call she needed to make. Her patience was hanging by a very fine thread and she needed a break, however short it would be. She stood and turned around to leave the table and was shocked to see Owen sitting a few tables away with two other men. He was ignoring them and staring directly at her. No wonder her neck had been itching. He smiled and she forced a curt nod in his direction before she fled towards the door. What the hell was he doing here? It was the most expensive restaurant on the island! Not that she had any idea what his financial situation was like, but it didn’t seem like the kind of place he would frequent. It was the kind of restaurant you dressed up for, and he wore board shorts to a date for heaven’s sake.

The warm air enveloped her as she left the building and she walked quickly away from it, trying to recollect herself. The whole night was proving absolutely miserable, and a quick glance at her phone showed Zara wouldn’t be calling to rescue her for another hour.

“Claire!” His voice was as rough as she remembered and she slammed her eyes shut, taking a deep breath before turning to face him as he walked quickly over to her.

“Mr. Grady. Nice to see you again.”

“Owen.” He stopped slightly closer to her than seemed necessary and she took in the dark pants and button down shirt he was wearing and frowned slightly, they looked… wrong on him. Restricting. The silence felt heavy between them and Claire cursed herself for fidgeting, shifting from foot to foot. She caught him smiling at that and she felt her irritation flair. She did not need this tonight!

“Well, I should get back-“

“Bullshit. You just escaped from whatever form of torture you were putting yourself through in there, you’ve got a little more time.” And what about the torture he was putting her through right now?

“That’s a rather important business meeting and I just needed to check an email, it would be rude of me to keep them waiting.”

“What, aren’t you even going to ask how I’ve been since you stormed out on me?” He was smirking and Claire couldn’t tell if he was teasing her or accusing her. Either way it annoyed her.

“I know how you’ve been, you recently had some sort of break through with the raptors.”

“Keeping tabs on me huh?” What the hell was with this man and eye contact? It was like he was trying to dismantle all of her defenses with his eyes alone.

“Not in the least, I received an email from your boss informing me of your progress.” He frowned slightly at that, and shook his head.

“Don’t listen to him, he’s overly opportunistic. Besides, my life is a whole lot more than my work, I have all kinds of emotions that have nothing to do with my raptors.” Whether he had meant it as a jab or not Claire took it as one and she narrowed her eyes at him slightly. 

“I’ve got to be going.” She started to walk away but his hand shot out and caught hers, pulling her around to face him again before letting go. It was only a moment of contact, but it was enough to send her heart racing.

“Let me take you out again Claire.” His voice had dropped, his tone soothing and apologetic. It took her off guard, as did the gentle look in his eyes.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea…”

“Why not?” She scrambled for an answer he would accept that wouldn’t give away the truth, that she was terrified of how he made her feel.

“This is an incredibly busy time for me with work.”

“Then you should take a break. With me.” It was like he smiled with his whole being, not just his mouth. It cut right though her, urging her to smile along with him. She fought it though, and won. This time.

“I’m not looking for a relationship right now and-“

“Well then it’s a good thing I didn’t say anything about a relationship. I said break. Maybe a date-like break. Not relationship.” Claire was shaking her head, her eyes glued to the ground at her feet because she couldn’t handle his gaze any longer. She needed to get out of here, now. “Dinner.” No. No eating with this man. “Maybe a walk.” His shoes filled her line of sight and his scent enveloped her, making her thoughts fuzzy. No walking either. Definitely no walking. “Dancing.” Had his voice been that husky a moment ago? Probably not. Was he remembering the short dance they had shared? Because she sure was. She felt her muscles relaxing just thinking about it, as if her body was trying to close the distance between them, even a little.

“I can’t.” She felt her breath catch as his warm hand came to the side of her neck, guiding her eyes back to his. He was closer than she had realized, she could see flecks of gold in his eyes.

“What are you so afraid of?” ‘You! This! The fact that you look at me and like that and I want to tell you everything, follow you anywhere…’ she didn’t say any of that though. Instead she pulled back, taking several steps away from him. When she was scared, she tried to run. And when she couldn’t run, because let’s face it he trained raptors and he wasn’t going to let her, she fought.

“I don’t know how I can be any more clear Mr. Grady. I’m not interested. Not in dancing, not in walking, and not in dinner. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m sure my party is wondering where I’ve gone.” She tried to walk away decisively and strongly, but she heard him chuckle behind her and she felt her annoyance flair to life again.

“I’ll see you soon, Claire.” She knew she should ignore him, but he was impossible to dismiss. She spun around, glaring fiercely at him.

“No, you won’t.” He just smirked and nodded at her.

“I’m pretty sure I will.”

“Why on earth would you think that? Don’t you listen to anything anybody says?” She belatedly realized she had stalked back over to him, moving right back into the danger zone where she could smell him. And he was still smirking down at her, looking ridiculously pleased with himself.

“No, not really. At least not when the person who’s talking is lying to themselves and everybody else by extension.”

“I’m not lying to myself! You just refuse to accept that there might be a woman out there who isn’t charmed by your stupid wit!” He laughed at that and she realized her mistake before he even opened his mouth.

“So you think I’m witty, huh? No wonder you like me so much.” Maybe he wouldn’t let her have the last word, but storming off again was kind of like a last word, right? Refusing to engage any more she did just that, her heels clicking angrily as she heard him laughing behind her. “You know we’re going to the same place right?” Nope, she had forgotten. And now he was following her. He was even ruining her exit!

Luckily it wasn’t far to the door but she kind of wanted to strangle him when he lengthened his stride to move in front of her before opening the door with a flourish.

“After you.” She glared at him, trying to intimidate him, but it was a lost cause. The man stared down velociraptors all day long, compared to them her glare was probably about as effective as a kitten’s. Thankfully he didn’t say anything else as they walked back into the restaurant, and when Claire saw the table she had fled not that long ago still didn’t have any food on it she sighed before she could stop herself. So much for a few minutes to herself to find the patience to get through the rest of the meeting. She straightened her shoulders, silently repeating their names to herself again. Before she walked away though she heard Owen’s voice, close enough to her ear that his breath ghosting across her skin made her shudder. “If meetings like that one are what’s taking up all of your time you need a break even more than I thought.”

“No I don’t.” She hissed it at him through clenched teeth before leaving him behind and returning to the table. She felt his eyes follow her across the room and she did her best to ignore it, refusing to give him the satisfaction of looking at him. The moment she sat down the questions started again and she silently prayed for Zara to call her earlier than they had planned. Hell, she’d take an actual emergency at this point just to get out of the meeting. She just wanted a new day. This one had been far too long and irritating. Sleep would be glorious, and tomorrow would be a better day. It had to be.


	4. Chapter 4

Owen returned to his dinner with Barry and Hoskins because he couldn’t think of a legitimate reason to use to escape it. That, and he couldn’t bring himself to abandon Barry. Their boss had offered to take them out to dinner in celebration of ‘whatever Owen did to beat Blue’ but he had refused to listen to Owen’s attempts to explain what had actually happened. Then he had spent the last hour talking about how amazing it was that these ‘killing machines’ could be ‘controlled’’ and after trying several times to set Hoskins straight both he and Barry had given up and focused on their steaks. Hoskins was determined to think whatever he wanted to think about their girls and Owen couldn’t see the point in arguing any longer. He couldn’t tell them to change the structure of their training program without the approval of the higher-ups and Owen was pretty sure he’d be getting interviewed before that happened. And god knows he wouldn’t be holding back any of his opinions at that point.

Dealing with Hoskins that late at night suddenly felt worth it though when he saw Claire walk in with the three other suits. He hadn’t seen her since their date which hadn’t really surprised him, it wasn’t like he had ever seen her around before that night. Apparently she didn’t have much to do with the research side of the park. Plus he assumed she had been avoiding him like a plague. He didn’t fit nicely into the little boxes she seemed to like to put the people in her life in, and it seemed like she didn’t know how to handle it, the uncertainty. He wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to catch her alone though and he silently willed her to leave the table, for any reason at all. 

Sure enough, about fifteen minutes after they had all sat down he got his chance. After following her outside he was even more convinced that she had been avoiding him. He didn’t let her subtle, overly polite attempts to shoo him away work and it got under her skin. It made her eyes flash and got her to push back against his teasing and he loved it. If the only way he could get through her layers to see flickers of the real Claire was to irritate her then so be it. He was REALLY good at irritating people if he wanted to; he had grown up with three sisters and an older brother after all.

He’d watched her return to her table while his own group finished their beers. Hoskins was rattling on about the possibilities of the Raptors and Barry looked like he was about to fall asleep while Owen was trying to figure out if he could hang around to catch Claire when her meeting ended. But it looked like she was in it for the long haul as the woman at the table ordered a third bottle of wine when their food arrived. After Hoskins slapped down his business expense card, talking loudly about how it was so nice to have a reason to take ‘his boys’ out to celebrate, Owen figured it’’d be better to leave her be for the night. It seemed like she was more stressed out than anybody ought to be at nine at night and as much as he’d love to keep pushing her he also knew patience was going to be key. 

With all of the frustration he’d had with the raptors for the past few months his thoughts had been consumed with figuring out that particular puzzle. When he’d gotten his girls back it felt like he suddenly had a lot more time on his hands and he’’d been surprised by how often his mind had strayed to her. He wasn’t sure what it was that had him so intrigued. The women he was usually interested in were laid back, outgoing, easy to be around… not words that described Claire at all. She was argumentative, controlling, withdrawn- and clever and capable and decisive and beautiful and enthralling. His mind had no problem coming up with ways to describe her, but the heart of the matter was that he desperately wanted to get to know the version of her that he had seen flashes of when she lost control of her emotions. That her, the real her, had captivated him and the fact that she didn’t let many people see it just made him want to win her trust even more. He’d always had a one track mind and that combined with his stubbornness generally meant he got what he set his mind to. And right now his mind was set on getting another date with Claire.

With the bill paid the three of them began to file out of the restaurant when Owen was struck with inspiration. Stopping at the host’s podium he asked for a sheet of paper and a pen. He quickly scrawled “Claire- very important business to discuss. Much more important than your meeting. You know, dinos and such. Drop everything and come discuss with me! See this official looking paper? It’s your golden ticket out of that meeting. You’re welcome! -Velociraptor Wrangler Extraordinaire”” and asked the host to deliver it to Claire in a few minutes. As much as he wanted to stay and see if she used it he also wanted to keep her guessing, and he had a feeling she’d be expecting him to be waiting outside. So after a quick goodnight to Barry he kicked his bike into gear and headed home, anxious to be out of the uncomfortable clothes he’d had to wear to dinner.

~~~~~~~

After another terrifying helicopter ride with her boss Claire left the control room slowly, her feet dragging. Of course Simon would suddenly want to her to collaborate with Owen, the universe was out to get her on this one. She had blushed when she received his little note the night before and Erica had jumped on her, asking what had her so excited. She’d quickly shoved it in her purse and mumbled something about a phone call from her sister about an upcoming visit before steering the conversation towards annual park income and distracting them. She’d refused to use the excuse he provided her on principle, but deeply regretted it when Zara had failed to call her and rescue her at 9:30. Dinner had dragged on endlessly and it was close to eleven when she finally extricated herself and fell into bed exhausted.

All she wanted was to stay as far away from Owen as possible until he found some other woman to chase and now she had to go and him and ask for his help. It was hardly past noon and this day was already feeling like a disaster. The meeting had gone well, that was one good thing, and the I-Rex was going to be sponsored. She should be ecstatic, but seeing how much Zach and Gray had grown since she had last been home for Christmas had filled her with guilt. She didn’’t know them. When Gray had hugged her she had been uncomfortable, what kind of an aunt didn’t want her nephew to hug her? A worried part of mind whispered that she was losing control, that everything she had been running from was catching up with her. Work was her number one priority, work was what made her happy. She wasn’’t supposed to wish she had been home to see her family more often or regret the choices that had brought her to where she was now. And she absolutely was not supposed to wonder what it might be like to let somebody actually see her, the real her. Somebody with piercing green eyes and a wit that pulled her in every time.

NO. She would not follow this train of thought for the thousandth time today. She had a job to do. She had to track down Owen Grady, bring him to evaluate the I-Rex paddock, and then meet with the lawyers to start drafting the contracts for Verizon. Then she’d have dinner with the boys and find a way to spend enough time with them tomorrow so that Karen would be appeased. Then, they’’d go home a few days later and everything would go back to normal. She had a job to do, and as long as she stuck to the plan she’d be fine.

When she reached her car she headed to the Raptor enclosure, assuming that’s where Owen would be. When she pulled up though she didn’t see him anywhere. In fact, there was hardly anybody there. Just one of the men who had been at dinner with him last night up on top of the walkway, leaning against a railing looking down into the enclosure. When she shut her car door he glanced over at her before straitening up and hurrying down to meet her.

“Miss Dearing, I’m Barry, one of the raptor trainers.” He held out a large hand to her and Claire shook it firmly. Before she could ask where Owen was he started talking nervously. “If you’re here about the incident this morning I can assure you, everyone is fine. It was just a mistake made by a new employee, Hoskins is meeting with him about the importance of safety protocols right now.” She narrowed her eyes, annoyed that she had no idea what he was talking about. If there had been an incident it should have been reported immediately.

“What exactly happened?” He paused for a minute and one of the raptors shrieked from within the enclosure. She silently applauded herself for not jumping, it would have ruined the intimidation factor she was trying to project at the moment. Barry shifted nervously and she felt her irritation grow. “I assume you know that all incidents that involve a threat to employee safety are to be reported to the control center immediately.”

“Mr. Hoskins said he would take care of that, I’m sure he’s working on it right now.”

“He had better be, but I’d like you to tell me what happened.” He sighed heavily before nodding slowly.

“Alright. A pig got loose after the training session ended and rather than letting Owen or myself stop the raptors a new boy rushed across the catwalk with a catch pole to try to snag it. He did, and one of the raptors took the pig a moment later. He didn’t let go, and he was pulled into the enclosure.” Claire’s eyes widened and before she could ask how badly he had been injured Barry plowed on. “He’’s fine though, just a little shaken up. Owen got him out before the raptors could do anything.” She blinked slowly and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Her words came out slowly and carefully measured as she kept her reaction from showing on her face.

“How, exactly, did Mr. Grady do that?” she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Well… you see he’s been building a relationship with the girls since they were born…”

“Tell me what he did.” Barry rubbed his neck and looked around, as if hoping somebody would come and save him from the conversation. “Now.””

“He went into the enclosure and ordered them to stand down. He kept their attention long enough for the boy to get out and then he held them off until he was close enough to roll under the gate as I closed it.” Claire stared at him in silence, trying to process what he had just told her. Owen, being the arrogant idiot that he clearly was, had gone into an enclosure with four vicious predators in order to distract them, to save somebody else. She was furious, and she wasn’t sure what was worse. The fact that nobody had reported this yet, that so many safety protocols had clearly failed and been ignored, that Owen had put himself in danger, or that it had paid off and he had broken every rule and saved the boy’s life and there was no way they could write him up for it. 

It was too much. There were so many reports to file it made her head spin, and she didn’t have time for any of it. She had to prioritize, and until the incident report was filed she couldn’t do anything.

“Is everyone ok?” she forced the words through clenched teeth and Barry visibly relaxed.

“Yeah, thanks to Owen everyone is fine. Like I said, the boy is with Hoskins now.” She took a deep breath and nodded quickly.

“Alright. If you see Hoskins tell him that if the report isn’t filed by six tonight there’s going to be hell to pay. Where is Mr. Grady?”

“At his bungalow, I think. We don’t usually train the girls in the heat of the day.”

“Fine, how do I get there?” Barry’s eyes widened before he told her the roads to take to get to the lake on the east side of the island. It was only ten or so minutes away and she thanked him and got back in her car and pulled away. She immediately reached for her phone and called Lowery, asking him what he knew about the incident with the raptors this morning. He said he hadn’t heard anything. That was deeply troubling, even if InGen was more involved with the raptors than the park was the control room still should have known. She started to call Zara to tell her to set up a meeting with this Hoskins guy but stopped when she remembered that her assistant was with the boys. She’d just do it herself later.

As she drove she forced herself to breathe deeply, calming herself down. She wouldn’t bring up the morning’s events with Owen. There were too many unknowns, and she didn’t think she would be able to maintain a professional composure if they started to talk about it. In fact she was quite sure she would lose it and yell at him about liability and personal safety and all the freaking rules he had broken and he would spin it around and say she was just worried about him and she didn’t need him to know that. Because god knows she wouldn’’t be able to hide it from him and the idea of him throwing himself into a pack of predators to save somebody else with no concern for his own safety made her hands start to shake. How anybody could be so stupid and brave and selfless astounded her. And infuriated her, a little. So she just wouldn’t bring it up. And hopefully he wouldn’’t either.

~~~~~~~

Claire sauntered off to her car, pleased to have gotten the last word, and Owen rolled his eyes at her back before going inside to change. NOT because of what she had said about him smelling because he had caught her trying to sniff him enough times at this point to know she was just trying to gain the upper hand, but because he needed thicker clothes if he was going to work with any animals. When she’d pulled up he had expected yelling, he doubted she would appreciate the fact that he had broken a whole host of rules this morning to save a boy’s life. He had definitely not expected to be going to look at the enclosure of a genetically modified dinosaur. What the hell had the geneticists been doing? He'd only met Dr. Wu a few times and he had gotten a bad feeling from him. The man had been so damn proud of himself and Owen had thought more than once that he just liked playing God. Now he was more convinced of it than ever.

As he was about to walk out the door he decided to snag a couple pieces of the banana bread he had made the day before… Claire had the tendency to get cranky around him and food made everyone feel better. Especially the banana bread that his grandmother had taught him to make when he was a kid. Walking towards her car he saw her tapping her fingers impatiently against the wheel and he smiled broadly at her through the window. She rolled her eyes and started the car, pulling away as soon as he shut the door behind him.

“I have a present for you.”

“I don’t need a present.”

“Of course you don’t. Presents aren’t about needing, they’re about sharing. And caring. I’m sharing this amazing banana bread with you because I caaaare.” He dragged the word out and she pursed her lips, trying not to smile. “Seriously, it’s delicious and I made it myself. It’d be incredibly rude to refuse it. Besides, you owe me.”

“How on earth do you figure I owe you anything?” Her voice had jumped several octaves and he silently congratulated himself on once again getting under her skin. He held the bread directly in front of her, waving it around a little bit.

“You abandoned me on the dance floor, how embarrassing is that? Everyone in that restaurant spent the rest of the night pitying me. I bet you never thought of that, did you?” He was joking of course, he couldn’t have cared less what anybody in that room thought that night except for Claire.

“Mr. Grady, can we please remain professional?”

“OWEN! Stop calling me Mr. Grady and eat the damn bread and I promise I won’t bring up the date again while we’re in the car, alright?””

“I don’t believe you, in fact I think you’re incapable of letting anything go.” Her voice was light and he smiled broadly. He loved that he could get her to flirt with him against her will.

“Oh believe me, I can let all sorts of things go when the right situation… arises.” She glared at him with her lips parted, failing to come up with a comeback and he smiled at her, winking.

“Stop that.” She snatched the bread from his hand, her fingers grazing over his palm in the process and it sent a shiver down his spine. God he wanted an excuse to touch her, but he knew he was already pushing it. He watched as she took a bite and her eyes widened before glancing over at him.

“I know, incredible right? I bet you thought I couldn’t cook.” She swallowed before answering him.

“I honestly haven’t once thought about your culinary skills or lack thereof.”

“What have you thought about me?” She took another bite of bread and kept her eyes locked on the road, ignoring him. But the blush that crept up her cheeks was all the answer he needed. “Ah, the best kinds of thoughts. Dirty thoughts.”

“I have not!” It was nearly a shriek and he couldn’t hold back a laugh as she turned even more red.

“Uh huh, sure. That’s why you won’t look at me and you’re blushing.””

“I’m not looking at you because I’m DRIVING and you know what? No more talking. If you can’t be professional then don’t say anything at all.” He laughed heartily at that but took mercy on her, falling into silence for a few minutes. It seemed like the paddock she was driving them to was on the northwest side of the island, and he figured he had at least another fifteen minutes in the car with her before they arrived.

“So did you like my note?”

“Are you only capable of being quiet for a few minutes at a time?”

“Nah, I’m generally quiet all night. At least when I’m sleeping. When other night time activities are happing though I’’m-“

“No, I did not appreciate your note.” She cut him off before he could continue and he smiled again at how easy it was to rile her up.

“Aww, but I spent so much time on it!”

“I told you, that was an important meeting, I couldn’t just skip out on it because it was boring.”

“Just how much of your time is spent in boring meetings anyways?” She didn’t answer for a moment, and when she did there was a hint of sadness in her voice.

“It’s a part of the job, and usually it doesn’t bother me. There have just been a lot of them lately.”

“Because of this new creation the lab cooked up?” She nodded silently and he watched as she started drumming her fingers on the steering wheel again. Was she as uncomfortable with this new attraction as he was? “I have an idea.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. Don’t hurt yourself.” She was smirking at him and her hands had relaxed so he figured he was on the right path.

“Ha ha, very funny. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about me, I’m resilient. We’ve got what, ten minutes before we get there?” She nodded and he continued. “Alright, I propose we don’t talk about work again until we’’re out of the car.”

“So you’re actually going to be quiet?”

“Not a chance. We’re going to ask each other all sorts of questions. And before you get all bent out of shape, I promise to keep it clean. Deal?”

“I don’t think-“

“Great! I’ll start. What’s your favorite piece of playground equipment?” She was staring at him again, baffled. “Come on, it’s a super easy one.” She sighed heavily and he knew he had won.

“The merry-go-round. I think it’s absurd that they’ve taken them out of almost all the playgrounds, I never got hurt on it and I went flying off of it more than once.””

“Really?”

“Well yeah, the best part was trying to get all the way across it without holding on while it was spinning.” Unbidden an image filled his mind of a little girl with freckles and wild, curly red hair terrifying her mother as she tried to run across a spinning merry-go-round. If she was nearly as stubborn as a child as she was now he had a feeling her mom’s hair had turned grey early on.

“For me it was the swings. I’d have contests with the other boys in my grade to see who could jump off from the highest up.”

“Of course you did.”

“And then one of the older kids told me that if you swung high enough you could flip over the top of the bar… it became my life mission for most of 4th grade.”” She laughed at that and he reveled in the sound. Damn, he was in so much trouble.

“Did you ever succeed?”

“Nope, it’s not possible.”

“How do you know?”

“Because if it was possible I’d have done it.” She shook her head at that and he was pleased when she came up with question before he had to pester her into it.

“Did you ever have a tree house when you were a kid?”

“Hell yes. My brother and I built one when I was ten and he was twelve. It was amazing, three different levels, retractable rope ladder to keep our sisters out, and one of the platforms hung out over the river so we could jump in.”

“And your parents were ok with that?”

“To this day they have no idea we did that. I’m pretty sure my mom would STILL try to ground me if she found out, even though I’m 32 and live thousands of miles away.”” They both laughed and Owen was glad to see how relaxed she was becoming. Maybe the trick was to be locked in a moving car with her, that way she couldn’t get into her head and run away from him.

“I always wanted one but my mom forbad it. She also forbad me from climbing trees but it never stopped me.”

“Why Miss Dearing, who would have thought you were a wild child? The next thing you’ll be telling me is you used to sneak out to go get drunk in high school.”

“Didn’t everybody?” She was smiling broadly at him and he shook his head in awe, this side of Claire was so different from the one who ran the park and whom people called an ice queen behind her back. He desperately wanted to ask her how she had gone from being so free spirited to such a stickler for rules and control, but he knew that if he did her walls would slam back into place and she’d shut him out again. And that was the last thing he wanted right now.

“Alright, my turn. Ever break a bone?”

“No, but I did get one of my front teeth knocked out once. Luckily it was my baby tooth but it bled like crazy.”

“How’d you manage that?” 

“That’s two questions, so I don’t have to answer and you’ll just have to wonder.”

“Oh come on, telling the story of how it happened is an implied requirement!”

“I’m not really in the business of ‘implied requirements’ Mr. Grady. You should have clarified the rules before we started this little game.” He folded his arms and tried to stare her down, but she had the built in excuse of driving. He decided to change tactics.

“Fine, it’s probably something embarrassing like you walked into a door anyways.”

“I did not walk into a door and knock out my tooth!”

“Oh sorry, you were probably roller skating and face planted.”

“It’s not going to work, I don’t care what you think I did. I know it’s bothering you not knowing. That’s worth so much more than-“

“Wow, it must be REALLY embarrassing. Did you fall off the couch and hit the coffee table? Open the fridge and misjudge the distance hitting yourself in the face? Stumble while sleepwalking because you were dreaming about-“

“Oh my god you are annoying. Fine. There was a new girl at school in second grade and this little brat of a boy Jake, who I couldn’t stand, was teasing her about not having any friends and she started crying, so I told him to stop and he threw a basketball at my head.””

“And it knocked your tooth out?”

“No, I punched him and he tackled me and kicked me in the face.” She was turning red and he felt himself gaping at her, but couldn’t help it.

“He kicked you in the face??? What the hell?”

“Well, turns out I kinda broke his nose…” He burst out laughing at that, and she turned even redder. “It’’s not funny! I’ve always felt terrible about that!”

“Oh my god.” He forced the words out between laughs and he paused, trying to catch his breath. “Claire, that is the best thing I have ever heard. That kid had it coming, only a jerk kicks somebody in the face when they’re down.”

“He was only 8…”

“Did you keep going to school with him after that?”

“Well, yeah.”

“And was he a jerk when he got older?” She didn’t answer him and he laughed again. “See? Come on, you’ve got to be at least a little bit proud of yourself.” He watched her fight a smile before she shook her head, refusing to answer.

“What about you, any broken bones?”

“I broke my arm when I was six. My dad had just gotten a new horse and he told all us kids to stay away from him so of course I snuck into his pen with a bunch of sugar cubes and lured him over to the fence to ride him. Everything was going fine until my brother saw me and yelled that he was going to tell dad. It spooked the horse and he reared, I landed on my arm, and got grounded until the cast came off. As if a broken bone wasn’t bad enough. But my brother was grounded just as long, so there is some justice in the world.” 

“Wasn’t he mad at you?”

“Oh yes, that was the start of an epic prank war that lasted for years.”

“And who won?”

“Well…”

“Oh my god, you’re still at it with him, aren’t you?”

“Aw Claire, you know me so well! See? This was a great idea I had.”

“I do not know you.”

“What are you talking about? I bet you know more about me at this point then most of the people you work with every day.”

“That’s not… I don’t……” He watched as she struggled to argue with him and his heart sank a little. He’d been kidding, he hadn’t really thought she isolated herself from everyone she worked with that much. ““My job is to make sure this park runs smoothly, not to know people’s birthdays or to chat with them about their day, alright?” And just like that the walls were back up and she was clenching the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. He sighed and shook his head slowly.

“It doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can be friends with the people who work with you.”

“For me. Not with me, for me. And no I can’t, not if I want them to respect me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to run this park? Every single department you talk to has a different agenda and every decision I make upsets somebody. I have to balance out everyone’’s ideas and opinions and figure out what the best direction is while still making sure this place turns a profit because it costs roughly the same to run as a small country! I cannot afford to be sweet or approachable because I need people to follow my directions immediately and without question because at the end of the day if something goes wrong here it’s on me.” Why the hell did she think that? He’d met Masrani, there’s no way that sort of sentiment had come down from him. Why had Claire taken that on herself?

“That’s insane. You’re not personally responsible for the decisions made by every person on this island.”

“Maybe not, but I’ll be held accountable. I can’t afford for anyone to see me as a friend more than as a boss.”

“Wow, if you really think that then no wonder you’re so uptight.” Shit. Shit shit shit. He hadn’t meant it to sound like that, he’d just meant that she was setting standards for herself that were unnecessary and impossible to live up to. He watched all expression leave her face and he cursed himself. He’d sent her into super cooperate Claire mode. He’’d been so focused on the conversation he hadn’t realized they had reached the I-Rex enclosure until she slammed on the breaks, throwing the car into park and refusing to look at him.

“Alright Mr. Grady, I played your little game, but now we’re here and we’re going to keep things professional. I’m sure that doesn’t surprise you considering how uptight of a person I am.” Her voice was clipped and he kind of wanted to pound his head into the dashboard. It had been going so well! She’d been laughing! Why did he have to say every stupid thing that popped into his head?

“Claire, I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant.”

“I don’t care what you meant. It doesn’t matter. Let’s get this over with as quickly as possible, I don’t know why Mr. Masrani thought you’d be able to tell us anything useful about an asset you have no experience with but so be it. I have a meeting to get to so let’s get moving, shall we?” she didn’t wait for his answer, rather she climbed out of the car and began walking towards the enclosure without looking back. Owen sighed heavily, wishing he could take back the last few minutes. But the damage was done, and if professional was what she wanted then that’s what he’d do, at least for now. He owed it to her.


	5. Chapter 5

The moment Owen pointed out the claw marks on the walls of the enclosure her hands had started shaking. There was no way. They had a thousand different safety protocols in place, there were security cameras everywhere, there was even a round the clock guard stationed at the enclosure. There was no possible way it had escaped without anybody noticing. It was a freaking giant dinosaur for god’s sake. When it walked the ground shook. It just wasn’t possible that it had jumped and clawed its way over the wall without anybody noticing. It couldn’t have. And yet, her hands were shaking and she couldn’t calm them. All these thoughts flashed though her mind more quickly than should have been possible while she ordered the guard to scan for the I-rex’s thermal signature. When the scan showed the enclosure to be empty her heart stuttered to a stop for a moment and then she was moving, rushing from the building towards her car as she pulled out her phone and was calling the control room. 

It wasn’t until she was in her car and partway down the road that she realized she’d left Owen behind, but right now it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that possibly the most dangerous asset they had ever bred was missing and there were over 20,000 people in the park and the new investors and Mr. Masrani… They had to find it. They had to find it and catch it before anybody knew what had happened. The new park’s safety record was the only reason hundreds of thousands of people a year were willing to bring their children here. A black mark like the escape of a vicious predator… No. They would find it, they would recapture it, and everything would be fine. It had to be fine.

She had only half been listening to Lowery on the phone as she floored her car, trying to get back to where she needed to be right now to handle this crisis as quickly as possible. But when he said the tracker showed the Indominus in its enclosure she had focused entirely on him, relief flooding her. The thermal imaging technology must have been malfunctioning. They had been doing a lot of work to the enclosure, building the walls higher, maybe the workers had messed something up…… but his next words, frantically delivered, had caused her to break out in a cold sweat. Someone was in the enclosure. The Indominus was in the enclosure. The I-rex, and a person. In the enclosure. Together. Her brain almost couldn’t wrap itself around what was happening and a small part of her wondered distantly if she was the kind of person to fall apart and become useless in a crisis, or if she would be able to get her shit together and make the right decisions. She’d always believed she was the second kind of person, but now she wasn’t so sure.

Even while she was thinking all of this she heard herself screaming at Lowery to get them out of there and pushed the gas pedal even harder. She had to get back to the control room, she had to see what was happening, there wasn’t a damn thing she could do in the car. She was close, just five minutes now at the speed she was going. She could faintly hear the control room through her phone, though she couldn’t make out any of the individual words as everyone was in an uproar. She tried to ask what was happening but she was ignored. Terror spiked through her gut when she heard them yelling ‘close the gates’ and ‘still in there’. She didn’t have to be in the control room to know the terrible decision that somebody had just had to make. 

There were a thousand safety checks in place, but at the end of the day they still had every single employee and visitor sign a waiver stating that Jurassic World and Masrani Corp. were not liable for any injuries or tragic accidents occurring on the island. And in the training seminar for the operations department it was clearly outlined in the manual: In the event of an emergency or unforeseen circumstance, asset containment is the first priority. Visitor and employee safety is the second. Meaning, ultimately, you don’t let the dinosaur out of its cage, even if it’s about to eat somebody.

She shuddered, remembering the cavalier way she had described it to the newest trainees. It had all seemed so unlikely, impossible even. They had such an amazing safety record. They had learned from the mistakes of John Hammond… She heard the roar of the Indominus through her phone and shuddered. Suddenly the control room burst out in a cacophony of yelling and screaming and her stomach clenched into a painful knot, the sound of the destruction of the enclosure reaching her clearly though the phone. Lowery seemed to have forgotten she was on the line and she didn’t bother to remind him. She could hear them all snapping into action, shouting out orders and making calls. Besides, she could see the control room building at the end of the road now.

She forced herself to begin to take deep breaths, trying to stop her hands from shaking. Whatever had happened, she needed to go in there looking calm. She needed to take control of the situation, reassure everyone that it was going to be ok. The Indominus was out. They needed to recapture it. It had destroyed its enclosure, they needed to sedate it and move it to an empty one. Was there one that could hold it? She wasn’t sure, but she would deal with that later. First, sedate and capture. She took another deep breath, and another. She didn’t bother parking her car, instead she pulled it up as close to the door as she could and pulled off into the landscaping. She ran inside to the elevator, passing a few worried looking employees without saying a word. After pushing the elevator button five or six times she forced herself to stop, and to breathe again and again. Judging from what she had heard over her phone, at least two people had died. Been… eaten. Her stomach lurched as she remembered the guard eating his sandwhich… had he been one of them? 

Suddenly, she froze. She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. The elevator doors began to open in front of her, but she stared blindly through them. She’’d left Owen behind at the enclosure. Owen, the stupid, reckless, navy seal, velociraptor trainer who was about as likely to let somebody go into a dangerous situation without him as Zara was to go anywhere without her phone. She’d brought him there to evaluate the enclosure… if anybody had gone into it he would have been with them, she was sure of it. And if he had been in there, he could be… could have been… Her body, starved of oxygen, gasped shakily and it brought her back to herself and she realized the elevator had opened. Mechanically she forced herself into it, trying desperately not to panic. Owen might be ok. He might not have gone in, or if he did maybe the whole situation wasn’t as bad as she was imagining it to be from what she had heard on the phone. Maybe everyone was fine and they just needed to catch the I-rex.

To her horror she felt her eyes begin to fill with tears. Slamming them shut she clenched her hands into fists, pressing them against her stomach. She didn’t know what had happened, but she was about to find out. The elevator would open any second and she’d be in the control room, and she had to take charge immediately and completely. There was no room for her to be emotional. She had the safety of an entire island to worry about now, she could not lose herself being worried about one man. 

Distantly she felt her nails digging into her palms and she clenched her hands even harder, the pain forcing her thoughts into clarity. She knew how to set aside emotions. She’d been doing it every day since her father died. Right now she had to be rational, calm, and collected. The fear, the worry, the sadness, the regret, all of those she would deal with later. Taking one last deep breath she opened her eyes, forcing everything else aside. As the elevator came to a stop and the doors began to open she unclenched her hands and straightened her shoulders. It was time to go to work.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

He didn’t move. Hardly breathed. He couldn’t even bring himself to open his eyes. He listened as the footsteps of the monstrous creation faded away into silence, but still he didn’t move. He wondered, briefly, if he should stay under the truck forever. After all, lightning never hit the same place twice, right? Or was that just a saying? He was pretty sure it was true. And if that was true, then maybe he was better off staying right where he was. Maybe a genetically modified dinosaur wouldn’t strike in the same place twice either? There was a rock digging painfully into his shoulder, but he didn’t move. Was this how a mouse felt when a cat had it cornered? He made a mental note to make sure that if he ever owned a cat to train it not to torture mice. He was a good trainer, he might just be able to pull it off.

Very distantly he became aware of shouting, and running feet. Human feet this time, not monster feet. He couldn’t bring himself to think of the I-rex as a dinosaur. It was a monster, plain and simple, cooked up by an evil mad scientist. Feet came to a stop next to the truck he was hiding under and he could hear their owner saying something, but it was like his head was underwater. Everything was muffled and distorted. Still, he didn’t move. A face came into view in his periphery, disappeared, reappeared closer, and suddenly hands were grabbing at him, dragging him out from his sanctuary, and everything snapped into focus and clarity so quickly it left him reeling. Everything was too bright, too loud, and he slammed his eyes shut for a moment, trying to get his bearings.

“Oh my god, are you ok man? Holy shit I can’t believe it didn’t eat you! You’re the luckiest man in the world, you know that?” The owner of the voice was speaking so quickly it nearly came out as gibberish and Owen opened his eyes and focused on him. He looked young, maybe twenty, and his eyes were wide and darting between Owen and the now destroyed enclosure. He couldn’t help wondering what the park was doing hiring all these kids who hadn’t lived long enough to develop any common sense yet. They were all just accidents waiting to happen. The new kid with the raptors this morning was proof enough of that. Had that really just been this morning? A chuckle forced his way out of his chest at that, and another, and suddenly he was doubled over laughing hysterically, unable to stop or even catch his breath. It was ridiculous! Three years working here and never once worrying about his life, and then today he nearly gets eaten. TWICE. 

“Uh… are you ok man? Are you like in shock or something?” Owen shook his head, straightening up, still trying to catch his breath.

“Probably. It’s been a long day kid. But hey, somehow I’m alive.”

“Yeah, it’s a freaking miracle or something. That thing…” But Owen cut him off before he could finish his thought as his mind finally wrapped around the reality of the situation.

“It wasn’t a miracle. I ran fast and thought faster. The only reason it didn’t smell me is because I cut the fuel line and covered myself in it.” He gripped the boy’s shoulder now, staring him down, wanting to be sure he got his point across. “That dinosaur is free for the first time in its life. It’s seeing moving prey, for the first time in its life. It’s a hunter who’s never been able to hunt. Every living creature on this island is in danger until we take it out. Now get out of here, head for the docks, and take anyone you can find with you.”” The boy’s eyes were like saucers now and Owen squeezed his shoulder to reassure him, softening his tone a bit. “And whatever you do, stay calm. The minute you panic you’ll start making all the wrong decisions, you hear me?” He nodded frantically and Owen finally released him, looking around. “I need to get to the control center, are there any vehicles around here that haven’t been smashed?”

“Yeah, there are a few trucks around the other side of the enclosure. They’re all park trucks, the keys are in the gas caps.”

“Thanks. Now go find anyone else who’s around here and get in one of those trucks and do what I said. Got it?” He nodded solemnly and Owen didn’’t wait to see if he would actually follow the orders. There wasn’t any time. He had to get to the control room, to Claire. She would have gotten there by now, right? He tried to think back to how long it had taken them to decide to go and examine the enclosure and how long the attack might have lasted, but it was hopeless. There was no way to hold on to the idea of time when running for your life. He thought enough time had passed for her to be safely away from the path of the I-rex though. It hadn’t taken off in the direction of the resort, it had headed towards the plains thankfully. Claire shouldn’t have been anywhere near there. 

As he jumped into one of the trucks and it roared to life he tried to force Claire’s panicked face out of his mind, but he found he couldn’t. He’d just seen two people eaten in front of him by a genetically designed killing machine, had nearly been eaten himself, and all he was worried about was Claire. A woman he’d gone on exactly one failure of a date with and who seemingly wanted nothing to do with him. There were more than 20,000 people on the island on any given day, a few of whom were his good friends, none of whom deserved to be eaten but were in dire danger of just that, and her damn terrified blue eyes were all he could think about.

He was pushing the truck as fast as he could, and the closer he got to the control center the more angry he became. At Claire, at the park, at whoever the hell had decided it was a good idea to MAKE a dinosaur. It was like somebody in the lab just wanted to play God and they managed to convince the park to finance it because it would make them a whole lot of money. They’d gone about it all wrong. They should have had somebody who viewed the dinosaurs as living, breathing, thinking creatures instead of as malleable assets look at the enclosure on day one, not after they had locked one up in it for who knows how long all alone. Not that he really thought any kind of socialization would have helped. They’d created something that never should have existed, and they had made it bigger than a T-rex. What the HELL had they been thinking? And now twenty thousand some odd people were in danger.

He’d never been the kind of person who sat back and waited for somebody else to make a decision. The natural instinct he had to take control of chaotic or dangerous situations had been honed during his time with the SEALs, and by now it was second nature. It was part of what made him so good at his job. For the raptors to have accepted him as alpha he had to be in command with them, always. In his daily life outside of work he had learned to tone down the authoritative side of himself, mostly because he got sick of people looking to him to make all of the decisions. But right now that side of him was in full control and he didn’t give a damn if he didn’t have clearance to be in the control room. As far as he was concerned surviving an attack from the escaped dinosaur gave him more clearance than anybody else in that room.

When he reached the parking lot he was relieved to see Claire’s car right out front of the building. He hadn’t really thought anything had happened to her, but his stomach still unclenched a bit at the sight. As he ran through the main floor he noticed that nobody was acting out of the ordinary and he felt suddenly sick. They hadn’t told anybody. They were going to try to keep this whole thing quiet, even if it put people in more danger. People parted before him with crinkled noses and confused looks when he reached the shining doors of the elevator and saw his reflection he understood why. He had fuel splattered all over him, dirt streaking his clothes, a couple of cuts, but more than any of that his eyes looked wild. Out of control. Primal. He’d move out of his way too. 

Then the doors opened and he moved into the elevator immediately, slapping the button for the control room with his palm. He took a deep breath as it began to move, preparing himself for the battle he was about to face. They had to take out the I-rex. Or evacuate the island. Or both. He wasn’t sure they could take it out quickly enough to prevent any more loss of life. It was so damn smart… it had set a trap for god’s sake! He had a feeling nobody was going to like what he had to say, but there was no choice. The situation had to be dealt with, now.

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

She followed Owen out of the building in silence, her heart racing in her chest. Zach and Grey were out there somewhere with that monster, and it was all her fault. She’d left them with Zara instead of taking the day off like she had promised. It had never even occurred to her that they might not listen to her assistant. She was so used to everyone doing exactly what she told them to do she had just assumed that her nephews would as well. If she’d just gone home to visit more often, spent more time with the boys, she would have known them better. She’d have known not to leave them alone like she had. Gray had run up to her and hugged her, full of love. She didn’t deserve it, she’d done nothing to earn their love, and yet they gave it to her freely. When had she lost that ability? She was so closed off she hadn’t even hugged him back. Against her will several more tears escaped her eyes and she wiped them away furiously. Crying wouldn’t help them find the boys. 

She focused instead on the broad shoulders of the man she was hurrying to keep up with and felt a swirl of shame and regret. She’d questioned him, ignored him, and kicked him out of the control room. Not to mention the fact that she’d been the one to bring him to the enclosure of the dinosaur that had nearly killed him. For a moment the images from the retrieval team’s cameras flashed through her minds and she felt her stomach turn over and she had to fight not to be sick. All those people, dead. Because of her. Because she didn’t listen to Owen. Because Masrani had been standing behind her and she was afraid to make the call she needed to make. Yes, he wanted to keep it quiet, yes he wanted to keep the asset alive, but if she had really fought him on it he probably would have listened to her. Instead she had put the future of the park ahead of the safety of her employees, and now they were gone. Brutally killed. Oh god, what was she going to say to their families?

“Claire, come on, we’ve got to go.” Owen’s rough voice cut into her thoughts and she was surprised to find she had stopped walking. He was standing in front of her and when she looked up his eyes held none of the accusations that she knew she deserved. “You’ve got to focus on just one thing. We’’re going to go find your nephews. That’s it. Got it?”

“But ACU, the park…” her voice was weak and she could feel her hands start to shake again.

“No. There’s a room full of people up there worrying about all of that. You and I? Our job is to go find the boys. Right?” His eyes were boring into hers and she shuddered, unused to being the focus of that much intensity. For the first time since she had called Zara and found out the boys had run off she realized that she had just… left. She’d walked away from the biggest crisis the park had ever faced and left them to deal with it on their own. It came as an absolute shock to her, but her nephews mattered more. So much more. She knew she would be no actual help to Owen, that she may even slow him down, that she’d be of more use in the control room, but none of that mattered. Zach and Gray were out there and she had to go and get them back, no matter what the consequences.

She took a deep breath and nodded at him, certainty filling her eyes. “Yes. Let’s go.” He nodded approvingly before turning back around continuing on. 

“I’ve got a truck out back, but we need to go to ACU before we go out into the field.”

“Why?”

“To get a gun.” He said it so matter of factly, but it scared her. Of course they needed a gun, they were going out into the jungle with an escaped monster running around killing anything it could find. And Zach and Gray didn’t even know they were in danger… 

When they reached the truck Owen pealed out of the parking lot and Claire tried to call Zach again, but the phone went straight to voice mail. 

“Damnit damnit damnit!” She immediately tried to make the call again and when it didn’t go through she dropped the phone in her lap in exasperation. Owen glanced over at her, but didn’t say anything. Turning her head away from him Claire watched the trees fly by outside the window, slowly suffocating in the tense silence. Apologies didn’t come easily to her, and she owed this man more than she could count. After she had kicked him out and ignored everything he had to say, he had turned around and agreed to help her without any hesitation. Without even a thought. And in the process he was putting himself in life threating danger. Again.

“You were right, Owen. I should have listened to you.” Her voice nearly cracked at she said it, the regret filling her whole being, making her wonder if it was physically possible to drown in an emotion.

“I know.” There was no arrogance, no blame, in his tone. Just the same deep regret and sadness that she felt.

“So, what do we do now?” He turned caught her gaze with his own, holding it for a long moment before he was forced to turn back to the road. “I ordered an evacuation to the main resort, but it will be hours before the ships get here.” He nodded in approval.

“Good. First, we find your boys. Then we kill it. At the very least we keep it as far away from the resort as possible. We should be able to herd it north with gunfire and explosions.” She didn’t bother arguing with him this time. The park was done for. They’d created a monster, lost control of it, and people had been killed. Too many people. There was no way to keep the incident quiet any longer. And once the news reached the rest of the world, even if they managed to keep the park open, nobody would come. All they could do now was try to keep it from killing anybody else. “Hey, you called me Owen instead of Mr. Grady.” The corners of his mouth had turned up just a bit and she gave him a half hearted smile in return. 

“I thought I had gotten you killed, the least I can do is call you what you want to be called.” For a moment she recalled the flood of pure relief and joy that had rushed through her when the elevator had opened and revealed him, whole and breathing. For a moment she had wanted to fling herself across the room and into his arms, just to feel that he was really alright. But then he had opened his mouth and she realized how angry he was, and common sense had stepped back in. She had no right to fling herself anywhere near him. For one, it was her fault he had been attacked. And for another, she had to be in charge, in control, composed. Everyone was following her lead; she had to make sure it was the correct one.

“Oh please, you can’t get rid of me that easily. In fact, I’m a little insulted. Don’t you think I can handle myself?” She wondered if he was trying to keep her from thinking too much about what was happening, to distract her to keep her from panicking. 

“I’m sure you have plenty of experience handling yourself.” It wasn’t until the words were out of her mouth that she realized just how dirty they sounded and to her surprise she found herself fighting a smirk. She didn’t look at him, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face if she did, but she could feel his glare boring into her.

“That’s not- I don’t need- Oh very clever Ms. Dearing.” She was clenching her teeth to keep from laughing, shocked that she had flustered him. “Also, you pick NOW to finally flirt with me? When we’ve got just a BIT too much going on for me to do anything about it?”

“I wasn’t flirting.” He scoffed at that and shook his head.

“Like hell you weren’t.”

“Well, you started it.” She finally turned to look at him and when their eyes met for a moment she felt herself start to blush again.

“Yeah, I did.” His voice had softened, losing the teasing edge it had held, and she felt a wave of confusion. What was she doing? This was the worst possible time for… whatever was happening between them to be happening. Everything was so completely out of control; she had no idea how to grab ahold of any of it. Needing to do something to break the sudden tension she felt she grabbed her phone and tried to call Zach again. She heard Owen sigh softly next to her and felt her heart sink. Whatever had just started to rise between them she had managed to run away from. Again. And for the first time she was disappointed in herself for it. But it was too much. Everything was too much right now. Her whole world was spinning out of control and the only thing she wanted to do was run away from it all. But she had to go and save her nephews. And then she had to figure out some way to save everyone else on the island. The only thing she could run from was whatever this thing between her and Owen was.

Zach’s phone went straight to voicemail again and she bit her lip, looking out the window and trying to guess how far they were from ACU.

“We’ll be there in a minute or two. I’ll run in, get a gun, and we’ll go find your boys. It’ll be ok.” She still didn’t understand how he could read her like a book, but for once she was grateful because she couldn’t bring herself to put her fears into words. “We’ll find them Claire. I promise.” She looked at him and saw the determination in his eyes and understood that somehow, impossibly, he would keep that promise to her. Or he would die trying.


	6. Chapter 6

Hoskins was a dead man. Worse than a dead man. Hoskins deserved to be shoved in the paddock with the raptors so that he could see just what kind of ‘perfect killing machines’ they really were. Owen truly didn’t know if he had ever been this angry in his life. All those years in the Navy, in combat, and he’d never wanted to shove somebody into the reach of a pack of raptors before. Granted, he hadn’’t known then that putting somebody in the position of being raptor prey was even an option, but if he had, he probably wouldn’t have wanted to do it to anyone.

Masrani had been wrong about a lot of things. Signing off on creating a genetic freak of nature killing machine for one, trying to keep it alive after it had escaped for two, but he did everything he could to fix those mistakes and he had even given his life trying to protect the people on the island. Hoskins swept in the moment he was gone and took control of the park because he was a slimy, self serving, opportunistic bastard who was about to make the situation a whole lot worse. Because he wanted to look like the damn hero with the big idea who saved everyone. The problem was, he didn’t listen to anybody but himself and he seemed to think that if he wanted something to be true badly enough then it would be. Case and point? He wanted the raptors to be his version of guard dogs, so he only paid attention to things that fit into his version of reality. He saw them listen to Owen and decided they’d listen to anyone who was authoritative enough. They didn’t attack Owen when he went in there to save the boy earlier that morning, so he decided that they wouldn’t attack anyone they weren’t supposed to. He was an arrogant, delusional, power hungry, idiot and Owen was painfully tempted to feed him to the girls.

Except that’d be wrong. Probably. It’d definitely be wrong as long as the kids were watching. Which was another reason why he was pissed off, the kids should be as far away from this as humanly possible, but Claire had looked at him with those big damn eyes of hers when the boys had asked to stay with him and she hadn’t said anything, so he hadn’t said anything. And now here they all were, in the truck, Claire on the phone with Lowery trying to hear what was going on in the control room, the boys talking over each other excitedly trying to tell him about the gyrosphere and how they fixed the jeep, and him sitting in the driver’s seat, silently seething, contemplating ways to make Hoskins pay for his absolute, soul crushing, stupidity. He couldn’t figure out what was pissing him off the most, the fact that he was putting the people on the island in danger by letting the raptors out of their paddock, that he was putting Owen’s girls in danger from the Indominus AND the trigger happy private security team he had brought in, or that he actually thought he could do ANY of this without Owen there to lead the raptors. It was going to be a blood bath. The only question was whose blood was it going to be?

“I know we can’t get through to the Board Lowery, but there’s no way they actually assigned emergency control over to InGen! The only way that would happen is if I, the operation’s manager, was out of commission! And obviously I’m not, just don’t let them do anything, I’m on my way… what do you mean he told them I was dead?!?” The last bit came out more screech than words and Owen’s hands clenched into painful fists around the steering wheel. Oh yes. Hoskins deserved to be raptor food. He glanced at Claire’s furious face next to him and then to the boys in the back seat who were still talking rapidly, this time to each other about how scary Aunt Claire was when she was mad. They were on their way to the control room, yet again, and the sun was beginning to take on the orangeish hue that meant evening was on its way. The raptor paddock was in the opposite direction of the control room, and even at top speed they were twenty minutes apart. Hoskins would want to put his plan in motion as quickly as possible, before somebody with the authority to stop him showed up. And there’s no way he’d be watching it all from the control room. He was obsessed with the raptors and visibly jealous of Owen’s relationship with them. He’d be as close to the action as he could, for as long as he could. Which meant they were going in the wrong direction. Making a snap decision he pulled the truck over and threw it into park, ignoring Claire’s immediate protest. 

“Hang up the phone, come with me.” He turned back to the boys and fixed them with his ‘you’d better not give me any shit’ face that had worked countless times on Blue. “You two, stay here. We’ll be right back. And keep the windows up.”” They nodded hastily, not saying a word. He pulled the gun out with him and didn’t wait for Claire to argue with him because god knows if he gave her a chance she would. He stalked away from the truck until he knew he’d be out of earshot even if the boys did try to eavesdrop. He heard her scramble out of the truck and slam the door behind her, cursing under her breath as she stomped towards him.

“What the hell are you doing? We have to get back there; didn’t you hear what Hoskins is doing??” He turned to face her and felt his breath catch in his throat, his anger fading to the background of his mind. She was covered in dirt, her clothes were ruined, exhaustion showed itself in the slump of her shoulders, her eyes were blazing like she was about to tear him a new one for not following the plan, and he was pretty sure he’d never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. Oh he was in so much trouble. The image of her shooting the damn flying dinosaur that was literally trying to bite his face off and saving his life played in his mind again and it took every single ounce of self-control he had to keep from grabbing her and kissing her again as she reached him. This wasn’t the time. They had to be rational, make decisions. Really awful decisions with potentially terrible consequences. God it had felt good to hold her, even though it was just for a moment, even though everything around them was pure chaos. “Owen!” He blinked a few times as he dragged himself back into the present moment. She was standing within arm’s reach, glaring up at him furiously, hands firmly planted on her hips.

“Look Claire, I know Hoskins, and I know now that he has a chance to put this damn plan in motion there’s nothing anybody can do to stop him. By the time you get through to the board and let them know that he lied to them it won’’t matter because he’ll have already set my girls loose.”

“He HAS to listen to me, I’m in charge here!” She looked so certain, and she was so stubborn, he almost believed her. But he knew Hoskins too well.

“Have you ever met him?”

“Once or twice.”

“Have you ever had to listen to him talk?”

“Not really, but-“

“From what little you do know about him, does he seem like the kind of person who will listen to reason once he has the bit in his teeth?”

“Bit, what bit? Owen-“

“Or like the kind of person who would let himself be put in his place by a woman?” He watched as her face flushed and her hands clenched, and he realized just how bad that had probably sounded to her. “He’s a misogynist! Its bullshit, but he is! The fact is we don’t have time to go fight this from the control room. The only chance there is of him not making this whole situation a whole hell of a lot worse is if we go to the raptor enclosure now. Maybe I can stop it from there. Or at least try to keep it from turning out too badly. But if we don’t get there before he starts this whole insane plan then we might as well give up and go join all the tourists crowded into buildings near the docks waiting for the boats to come.” The light was fading more rapidly now as the sun sank closer and closer to the horizon. The reddish light made Claire’s hair look like it was on fire. He watched emotions play across her face- anger, disbelief, frustration… They stood staring at each other for a few long moments before she let out a resigned sigh. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked towards the setting sun.

“I can’t do anything from the raptor enclosure.” She looked so defeated in that moment he couldn’’t stop himself from stepping closer to her, feeling her body heat and resting his hands on her shoulders, tipping her head back up so she would look at him. 

“You can’t actually do anything about what Hoskins is putting into motion from the control room either. I know you want to, but there’s too much on the line here, we have to think clearly. You can’t stop him, but I might be able to. And if not, well at least the raptors listen to me. We don’t have time for me to take the three of you to the control room, I have to get to the raptor enclosure right away. Once we’’re there you should take the truck and head back to the control room.”

“You think we should split up?” Her voice was filled with barely suppressed panic and he stared down at her, trying to figure out how to answer that. He should lie to her, say whatever it took to get her and the boys somewhere safer, even if it meant hurting her. But she was looking up at him with a face filled with vulnerability and fear, and he couldn’t bring himself to tell her anything but the truth.

“I hate the idea of you being out of my sight. I don’t trust anybody else on this island to keep you alive, and I need you to survive this Claire. More than I think I’ve ever needed anything. But I’m about to go into the heart of this whole mess with not just one giant predator running around free but five. Nowhere is totally safe, but the control room is probably safer than out in the jungle. And it’s not just you, it’’s the boys too. I know they want to stay with me but-“

“I want to stay with you too.” Her shoulders had taken on that stubborn, determined edge and her chin was tilted up, daring him to argue with her.

“Claire…”

“No. If I’d listened to you none of this would be happening right now. You understand these animals better than, well, anyone, I think. You’re the park’’s best chance right now, and I’m going to be there to help you any way I can.”

“No, you’re not going to put yourself in this kind of danger because of a feeling of responsibility for the damn park-“ She pulled herself away from him then and immediately began stomping back towards the car.

“Stop trying to tell me what to do!” She all but ripped her door open and turned to glare at him once again as he strode across the ground back towards the truck. “And it’s not about the park, I don’t give a shit about the park anymore.” The boys were looking on with wide eyes as she planted herself firmly in the front seat, slamming the door and crossing her arms, staring out the windshield at Owen stubbornly.

“Then what is it about?” He yelled loudly enough that he knew she’d hear it as he too stomped back to the car, frustrated and confused as to why she felt so obligated to stay with him if it wasn’t for the park. Didn’t she see how dangerous it was going to be? He pulled open his own door and jumped in, starting the truck and turning around quickly and heading towards the raptor enclosure, throwing a scowl her way.

“You’re so smart, you always know what everyone is thinking, you figure it out.” The car was silent for a moment before Zach couldn’’t contain his sarcastic comment any longer.

“You know, when girls tell you to figure something out, it means they think you should already know it, and you’re usually in a lot of trouble.”

“Thanks kid, I never would have guessed.” Yep. There it was. He was letting himself be drawn into a sarcasm-off with a teenager. This day really really needed to be over. 

“Where are we going now?” That was Gray, and Owen glanced over at Claire to try and judge how much he should tell them. She didn’t turn and look at him, but she did give him a slight nod.

“To the velociraptor enclosure. My boss is trying to do something that is incredibly dangerous and stupid, and I’m hoping I can stop him.”

“But what if you can’t?” He’d been asking himself the same question, and he really didn’t like the answer.

“Then I’ll have to do something incredibly dangerous and stupid too.” He swung the truck onto the road that would lead to the paddock and before Gray could continue with his questions Claire’s phone rang and she glanced at the caller id and gasped in horror.

“Oh my god, it’s your mom. Nobody say a word. Not one single word, do you hear me?” The ‘don’t screw with me’ face she tuned on the boys rivaled his own; he was impressed. Until it was turned on him and then all he wanted to do was the exact opposite of whatever she said. His mom had told him once it was his biggest character flaw, but then she was probably just tired of having him argue with every single thing she told him to do.

Claire took a deep breath and swiped her finger across the screen with a trembling hand. “Hello?” Everyone in the car cringed when they heard the hysterical voice of Claire’s sister loud and clear, even though the phone wasn’t on speaker.

“Are they ok??? Zach’s phone is going straight to voicemail and he never turns it off! It’s all over the news, but every report is saying something different, please please tell me my boys are with you, tell me they’re safe!” 

“Yes, they’re right here, they’re fine, we’re all fine.”” Zach snickered from the back seat and Claire turned and glared at him, raising one finger to her lips.

“Why isn’t Zach answering his phone then? What happened? Let me talk to them, just put them on the phone!”

“He… broke it. Dropped it. On accident, while he was trying to take a picture. Of Gray, not even of a dinosaur. I’ll get him a new one.”

“Wow you are really, really bad at lying.” He said it quietly enough that only the four of them in the car would hear him but her hand whipped out and smacked him regardless. The boys muffed their snickers from the back seat but not well enough, and the next thing they heard was Claire’’s sister demanding to talk to them, to hear that they were ok.

“Karen, I know you want to talk to them, but they’re busy right now. They’re, uh, eating.”

“Claire!” It was so loud she cringed away from the phone. Owen motioned for her to wrap it up. The sun had set fully and they were getting close to the raptor enclosure. She nodded and he watched as she straightened her shoulders, shifting into work mode.

“Karen, listen to me. I don’t know what the news has been saying but there was an incident and the park is being evacuated.” He heard her sister try to cut in again but this time Claire didn’t allow it. “The boys are right here with me, we’re all fine, and I’m not letting them out of my sight. But I have to go, I have to make sure everyone else is ok too.” There was silence on the other end of the line, then a sob.

“They’re ok?”

“Yes, I swear, they’re just fine. I’ve really got to go Karen-“

“Listen, we’ll be there in the morning, we’re on the way to the airport right now. We got the last two seats on a plane leaving in an hour.” He saw the boy’s eyes widen in the rearview mirror and Claire’s face turn white.

“No Karen, you really don’t have to-“

“I’m coming down to get my boys! Don’t let them out of your sight until I get there. Do you hear me Claire? They’re your nephews, they HAVE to be more important than anything else right now!” 

“They are. Of course they are.” Owen could hear the hurt in her voice but before the conversation could go any further her phone made a sad little sound and she looked at it dejectedly, it had finally run out of batteries. “Shit.”

“You shouldn’t say shit.” Owen burst out laughing at Gray’s comment and this time he caught her hand before she could smack him again. He squeezed it gently, meeting her eyes for a moment, hoping that it was reassuring her.

“Mom just gets worked up sometimes, she’ll be fine.” Zach was watching the lights of the raptor enclosure area flicker as they flew past the thick trees.

“And if she’s still mad just tell her about your boyfriend and how he took out like twenty dinosaurs without even trying. She’ll be so excited, she’’s always saying that you need to find somebody to settle down with-“

“Gray!” Zach was laughing from the backseat and Owen was desperately fighting a smirk. He couldn’t see in the dark of the truck, but he was sure Claire’’s face was a lovely shade of red right now.

“I’ll deal with your mom when she gets here. If she never trusts me enough to even leave you two alone in a room with me again, then oh well. There’s nothing I can do about that now. We have to focus on Hoskins. That’s the biggest priority. Right?” Owen nodded, still not trusting himself to keep a straight face if he looked at her. But as they came around the corner and he saw the paddock swarming with InGen private security, and he heard Blue screech in rage at all of the commotion outside of the walls, he found himself fighting a very different urge than laughter. 

He knew that his best bet of getting Hoskins to listen to him was to suck up to him. That yelling or threatening to feed him to the girls would do no good. He took a deep breath as he pulled up and saw his boss turn and start strutting towards them. Calm. Breath. Calm. He kept repeating the mantra in his mind, hoping it would work. He jumped out of the truck, hearing Claire jump out as well, and he just kept forcing deep breaths down his throat. Calm. Calm. Calm.

But then Hoskins opened his idiotic arrogant mouth and Owen was pretty sure that there wasn’t a soul in the world who would be disappointed in his decision to deck him.

~~~~~~~

The four of them stood in the empty street, surrounded by the destruction that the two massive animals had caused. Somehow, impossibly, the T-Rex had left once the Indominus was pulled into the water. Maybe because it was wounded, or maybe it had never even realized they were there, but either way Claire had never been so grateful for anything in her life. The raptor had run off as well, taking her cue from Owen. Main Street of the resort was in ruins. She could smell a fire burning somewhere, but what was the point of trying to do anything about it? 

The I-Rex was gone, but the T-Rex was loose, as was at least one raptor. So many areas of the park had been damaged. She didn’t even know how many other assets… dinosaurs she silently corrected herself…… had been killed much less the number of guests and employees who had been injured or worse. Jurassic World was done, and to her surprise she was a little relieved. How arrogant had they been to think nothing would ever go wrong? How egotistical had she been, never seeing them as living breathing creatures but only as attractions? One of the things Masrani had said when they were in the helicopter popped into her mind, that they were doing this to remind themselves how very small they were. Hiding behind a jeep while a dinosaur stuck his nose in to the same room hoping to find a bite to eat had certainly reminded her of just that. She’d never felt more helpless in her life.

She felt a warmth at her back and turned her head just enough to see Owen out of the corner of her eye. His hand came down on her shoulder and just for a moment she let herself slump against him, taking comfort in his presence, his strength. They’d survived, all of them. It seemed impossible, but they had done it. 

“Aunt Claire?” At the sound of Grey’s voice she took a half step away from Owen and she felt his hand fall away from her.

“Yeah?” 

“I’m guessing you don’t want us to tell mom that you let out the T-Rex and led it straight to us either.” Zach and Owen both burst out laughing at that and Claire groaned.

“No, please don’t tell her about that either. She’ll never, ever forgive me.”

“What if I tell her it saved our lives? I mean, it was so cool!” 

“How about you just let me tell her what happened first, then after she stops speaking to me you can tell her all about it yourself.”

“She won’t be mad, we’ll just tell her how if it weren’t for you and Owen we’d have been dead like 5 times.” Zach chimed in, and Claire shook her head. These boys had a seriously positive outlook on their mother.

“We’ll just worry about all of this when they get here, ok? Well, not here. To the main land. Oh god, Owen, we have to get to the mainland somehow! What if all the boats are gone?!?” She had spun around to face him in a panic, but when she found him smirking down at her she glared at him fiercely. “What?“

“You just used yourself as bait to set a T-Rex on a genetically modified dinosaur. Your life has been in danger today probably more times than it has been in the whole rest of your life combined, and you’re worried about us getting to the docks and getting on a boat. Really?”

“Well…”

“Don’t be. There are going to be boats here constantly. Not just rescue operations and evacuation operations, but the press too. Getting off this island is going to be the easiest thing we’ve done all day.” She sighed in relief, realizing he was right. Slowly the four of them began walking towards the security truck Claire had driven the boys here in not so long before. Zach had his arm around his little brother’s shoulder as they walked a little ways ahead of Claire and Owen, exhaustion already showing itself in the their shuffling feet.

“Unless they figure out who we are. Then the press will be all over us.” She was just thinking out loud at first, but when it sank in she felt her face fall. Oh god… there were going to be so many people to answer to. Karen would be bad enough, but Masrani Corp, the lawyers, oh there were going to be so many attempted lawsuits. 

“Hey, I’m just an unknown dino wrangler, you’re the one whose face is on the ‘Meet Our Staff’ pamphlets they put in all the hotel rooms. Nobody’s going to recognize me or the boys.” She stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out if he was teasing her or if he was being serious. His face gave nothing away though, and she felt her heart start to beat more quickly. He wouldn’t, would he?

“So what, you’ll save me from a rampaging dinosaur but you’ll abandon me to the reporters?” He shrugged and moved ahead to open the back doors for the boys, helping Grey hop up into the truck.

“I’m pretty sure dealing with the press is above my pay grade.” His face was hidden from her as he shut the doors firmly behind the boys and she felt her heart sinking. What had she been thinking? He’d done more for her and the boys than anyone could ever be expected to. And here she was, hoping for more. She had been more afraid in the last 12 hours than she had been in the whole rest of her life. And through it all, Owen had been the only thing that had helped her feel even a little bit safe. It was no wonder the boys had latched on to him. And somewhere along the way she had started to assume he wouldn’t leave. That he’d still be by her side when she faced the firing squad for everything that had happened.

And she wanted him to be there. More than anything. She was done hiding from it, trying to ignore it, or pretending it wasn’t there. That man had gotten under her skin on that first date and never left. They’d been through hell together, survived, he’’d done nothing but flirt with her every time he saw her, and now he was done? Had it all just been the thrill of the chase for him? He turned to face her then, a smile on his face, and the rational part of herself was frantically trying to tell her he’d been teasing her, that he wasn’’t out, but there was still so much adrenaline running through her system it hadn’t taken much for her worried thoughts to work her up into full blown anger.

“Fine, Mr. Grady. You can fade into the background and I’ll deal with everything myself. God knows I’m used to it.” She snapped at him, fiercely, wanting to protect herself. She watched as his face was marked by a deep frown of irritation and she turned away from him, pulling open the door and preparing to climb up into the driver’s seat, but before she could lift one foot off the ground he was grabbing her arm and pulling her around to face him, towering over her and glaring.

“You can’t be serious. Don’t start pulling that Mr. Grady shit on me again, we’re so far past that it’s not even funny.” The warmth of him made her body want to melt into him again, but her mind refused to let her. She was… invested. And she was terrified that she was more invested than he was. So instead she started to shut down, take on a more professional tone, an old defense mechanism that was meant to drive people away before they got to close.

“You’ve gone above and beyond the duties of your job-“

“Knock it off. Don’t act like I’m just another person you work with.” She tried to pull away from him then, to get in the truck, to do anything that would shift his attention away from her, but he wouldn’t let her. Instead he stepped even closer to her, leaving no space between them, burying his free hand in her hair and making her shudder as he turned his face up to hers. His forehead came to rest on hers and her body started to relax, even though her mind was still fighting him. How did he do that?

“I’m not going anywhere. What’s it going to take for you to believe that?” She finally met his eyes and saw the truth blazing in them, and took a shuddering breath as her mind gave up the fight. 

“Good.” The whispered word may not have seemed like much, but it was huge for her. It was an acceptance of her feelings for him, an acknowledgement of how badly she wanted him to stay with her, to have a chance to figure out what this was between them. And it was her way of admitting how scared she was that he might leave. His hand on her arm relaxed its grip and began to trace circles on her skin. He was so close, she could feel his breath on her face, all she had to do was tip her head up…

“Can’t you guys do that once we’re on a boat or something? I mean, there are still dinosaurs out there that could eat us.”” Zach’s sarcastic voice cut through the moment and Clarie jumped back from Owen, her cheeks a burning red. Both of her nephews were watching her through the hatch door with amusement.

“Right, yes. Boats. Gotta get to the boats.” They both started laughing and she climbed up into the driver’s seat, surprised to feel Owen climbing up after her.

“Scoot over, I’m driving.”

“I’m perfectly capable of driving this thing Owen.”

“I know you are but if I get in that passenger seat there’s no way I’m going to be able to stay awake any longer. And I don’’t know about you, but I don’t want to fall asleep until I’m off this damn island.” She met his eyes and saw him pleading with her silently so she moved over to make space for him. She wondered just how long he’d been awake. Maybe not that many more hours than she had, but he’d almost been eaten without her that morning. Twice, actually. She’d forgotten he’d gone into the raptor enclosure to save that boy. God it had been a long day.

“Hey!” The sound of a yell made Claire jump and Owen flung open the driver’s door, jumping out more quickly than it seemed should be possible. She stuck her head out and saw Lowery jogging down the road towards them carrying a bag in one hand and waving his other arm to get their attention and felt tears fill her eyes. She couldn’t believe how glad she was to see him alive. Owen was moving to meet him as Claire clamored out of the truck and hurried over to him as well. As soon as she reached him she threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely.

“Oh… uh. Ok. This is… new. And weird. Are you ok Claire?”

“I’m so glad you’re alive!” She felt him patting her back awkwardly and trying to pull away so she let him, unable to stop smiling. “Thank you, for staying. It was stupid, but we’d all be… just, thank you Lowery.””

“You’ve never said thank you to me before. Ever. About anything. And now you’re thanking me for disobeying orders, staying behind, and setting Rexy free. Really?””

“Well you disobeyed their orders, not mine. Anyways, that’s not the point. The point is you’re ok and I’m glad. What’s wrong with that?”

“Yeah… that’s weird. You don’t usually care about other people……” She was beginning to remember how good he was at getting on her nerves when Owen moved between the two of them, leading them both back towards the truck.

“Let’s just get off this island, ok? You two can bicker later.”

“Oh yeah! That’s what I came out here to tell you, there’s a boat waiting for us at the south east docks. Everyone else has already been evacuated. I tried to call you but you didn’t answer your phone, pretty much for the first time ever.”

“I don’t even have the slightest idea where my phone is Lowery. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’ve been a little distracted for the last several hours.” The initial elation at seeing him alive was wearing off and the impatient and irritated tone he was used to was slipping back into her voice.

“Here, hop in.” Owen had pulled open the back door and Gray waved at Lowery with a smile.

“I have to sit in back? Why can’t I sit in front? I’m the one that stayed behind!”

“Lowery, just get in!” She felt a little bad for snapping at him, but he’d seen what they had just been through, he had no reason to be complaining. Except for the fact that he always complained.

“Oh good, and here I was worried all this almost being eaten stuff had made you go soft.” He was grumbling as he climbed in and she slammed the door behind him harder than she needed to. As she turned she found Owen smiling at her, amused.

“Oh shut up.” At that he laughed and followed her back to the front of the truck. 

The drive to the docks was short and uneventful. Just has Lowery had promised, there was a boat waiting for them with just a few other people on board. Most were random park employees who, like Lowery, had stayed behind to make sure the evacuation went as smoothly as possible. There were also a few medics with Red Cross badges who crowded around them as soon as they were out of the truck.

“Are there any serious injuries?” An older woman with her hair pulled back in a tight pony tail wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and she realized with some surprise that she was cold. Another medic tried to hand Owen a blanket but he pushed it away, scanning the trees along the beach with apprehensive eyes.

“No, we’re all ok. Just… ready to go.” She watched Owen for another moment before turning away, opening the back door and stepping back as the medics helped Lowery and the boys out of the truck. There was a distant roar and Claire jumped violently, instinctually moving closer to the truck. Grey had thrown himself against his brother, clinging to him desperately. Even Owen had jumped a little, and the medics quickly wrapped blankets around the boys and led them to the docks. Claire stood, watching them go, guilt flooding her. What they had been through…… they would never be the same. They would have nightmares probably, for who knows how long. Therapy… she should tell her sister to get them into therapy as soon as she could. Maybe then they wouldn’t be traumatized forever……

“Hey! We’re the last ones, let’s go!” Lowery’’s voice broke the spell and she was finally able to turn away and start walking towards the boat. The adrenaline was finally wearing off and the myriad of pains throughout her body were starting to make themselves known, but she refused to let it show. She had to get to the mainland and get the boys to Karen. Then and only then would she take care of herself. Owen came and walked next to her, close enough to feel his warmth, but he didn’’t try to help her and for that she was silently grateful. She just had to hold it together for a few more hours. She had to stay strong for the boys a little while longer.

As she stepped off the dock onto the unsteady boat she went and took a seat with the boys and turned her head firmly towards the open sea. Beneath her engines roared to life and they pulled away from the dock. She refused to look back. To watch her home and her life for the past seven years disappear behind them in the dark night. She couldn’t face it right now. Owen’’s words from earlier in the day came back to her… One thing at a time. That she could do. Get the boys to Karen. That’s the only thing she was going to worry about. After that…… No. No after that. Find her sister, reunite the family. 

She felt Gray’s head fall onto her chest and she looked down to find him sound asleep on her. A quick glance at Zach showed that he was close to sleep as well, his head resting against the wall behind them. Owen came and sat down next to her then, a couple of water bottles and various prepackaged snacks in his hands.

“Are you hungry?” He kept his voice quiet and she shook her head.

“I probably should be but…”

“Yeah, me neither.” He set it all aside and stretched his legs out in front of him with a groan. “I’m gonna be sore tomorrow. Or after I get to sleep, whenever that’ll be.” She nodded slowly, the rocking of the boat and the pure exhaustion catching up with her quickly. He was saying something, but she felt like she was in quick sand. Everything was moving so slowly, and she couldn’’t distinguish his words anymore. The last thing she was aware of was his arm coming down around her shoulders and pulling her slightly so that she was resting against him. And then, blissful darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

The sun outside the hanger was painfully bright to Owen’s overly exhausted eyes and he gently steered Claire towards a corner of the building where they could find some shade. There were hundreds of people milling about outside. Relief workers, visitors to the park who were waiting in line to board busses that were headed to the airport, eager looking reporters talking to anybody who would let them within ten feet of them. There were tents set up all over too. Some were distributing clothing and shoes, others had food piled high. Nobody paid the two of them any mind and he was relieved that Claire hadn’t been recognized. Of course, she didn’t look a whole lot like the Claire that had been running the park.

They reached the shade and he watched as she leaned back against the wall, her eyes sliding closed. There was no trace of the cold corporate Claire left right now. In her place was an exhausted, vulnerable, breathtaking woman who had been through unthinkable things and was still standing. She’d saved them all. When she had gone running past the Indominus with nothing but a walkie talkie he hadn’t been able to process it. He knew what he was seeing, but his brain refused to comprehend it. And then she was gone and he was shooting and trying to get back to the kids and trying desperately not to think that he might never see her again. Time was moving impossibly slowly, and every second that passed it seemed less and less likely that he was going to survive. Wherever she had gone, whatever she was trying to do, he and the boys were running out of time, and he was NOT going to let anything happen to them, even if it meant he had to become the bait. All he was waiting for was an opportunity to run, to lead it away from the boys, to get as far away from them as quickly as he could, when amazingly she had reappeared running like the devil was after her. Which, he figured, it pretty much was. Then they were all running and dodging the destruction of the battle and he didn’t have time to think. But now he did, and all he could think was how much he didn’t want her to disappear again.

He didn’t realize how long he’d been staring at her until he felt a hesitant hand on his arm and he blinked a few times, meeting her gaze.

“Are you ok?” He nodded slowly, silently reveling in her touch. He was pretty sure it was the first time she had reached out to him, reached for him, like that. And all it had taken was being chased by man killing dinosaurs for a day and a half. His eyes slid shut and he smiled as her hand moved up to his shoulder. “You look exhausted.”

“I haven’t slept since yesterday. Or… the day before? I don’t even know anymore, that’s how long it’s been since I slept.” He forced his eyes open and ran a hand through his hair, trying to think about what they should do next, but his thoughts kept getting lost somewhere between his mind and his mouth.

“Didn’t you sleep on the boat? I thought we all got a few hours of sleep then.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“But… why not?” He didn’t think the truth, that he’d been watching her, unable to tear his eyes away from her because even though they were safe on the boat part of him was sure that if he turned away for even a second then she’d be gone, running away to set a dinosaur loose and risk her life, would go over very well. So he went with a different truth that had played the tiniest part as well.

“Too much adrenaline in my system for too long, it takes a long time for me to come down after a day like yesterday. And we weren’t done, we still needed to get the boys to your sister.” 

“Karen’s here, she’s with them now.”

“I figured, or you’d still be sitting with them.” They slipped into silence and to his surprise she stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his chest, burying her face against his neck. He was so shocked he didn’t move for a second but then he was crushing her against him, one hand gripping her waist, the other buried in her hair. He could hear her murmuring something but he couldn’t make out the words and the only way he was going to be able to hear her was to pull away and there was no way he was going to risk spooking her by pulling back. Instead he tightened his arms and let his head come to rest on top of hers, hoping that somehow the moment would never need to end. She fit against him so well, so comfortably…

But then she pulled her head away from him just far enough to look up at him and he could hear her now. She was repeating ‘thank you’ over and over and over again.

“Claire, you don’t have to-“

“Thank you thank you thank you. Yes, I do. You saved them, you saved us all. You-“

“Stop. I did what needed to be done, and so did you. You don’t owe me anything.”

“But-“

“Nothing. Not one thing. Do you hear me?” He felt her try to pull further away from him but he didn’t let her. Instead he started tracing circles on her back, knowing that somehow that simple act could stop the inner voice that was always trying to talk her out of being happy.

“Owen…” she stopped trying to pull away from him then, but he could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

“I’m serious. Everything that happened, everything we went through, I can’t have you thinking you owe me for that.” The exhaustion was destroying his filters, flimsy as they may have been to begin with, and he knew he was about to say too much, but he couldn’t stop himself. “I’ll go crazy, trying to figure out if you’re with me because you feel like you owe me something, or if you’re with me because you want to be. Ok? Everything I did I’d do again if I have to because it kept us alive, it got us here. Hell it even got you to cuddle up to me.” He managed to stop himself just short of saying something corny like ‘Worth it.’ but it was a close call. Her eyes widened and he watched disbelief, fear, relief, and uncertainty flash across her face, one after the other. He waited, hoping she wasn’t about to bolt, calling on what little was left of his patience. She swallowed heavily and opened her mouth but before she could make a sound somebody called for her. He turned and saw the woman who must be Claire’s sister standing maybe ten feet away, her eyes flicking between the two of them. 

“We’ve got a cab.” He couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped him as Claire’s arms fell away as she stepped back, turning to face her sister. “The boys need sleep, and so do you. We managed to get a hotel in San Jose, it’ll be a long drive but there aren’t any rooms left here.”

“No, we don’t need to go to San Jose, I’ve got a house. Here, in town. We can go there.” She was flustered, not meeting Karen’s eyes and he wondered if it was because her sister had found her in his arms or if it was because she still felt guilty about everything that had happened to the boys.

“You have a house? Why didn’t you ever tell me you have a house?” Karen took a few steps towards them and Claire dropped her eyes to the ground, her shoulders slumping. It was guilt then, but not just about the boys.

“I don’t spend much time there, it never even occurred to me to tell you.”

“Yeah, just like it never occurred to you to tell me you had a boyfriend.”

“I don’t… He’s not…… We work together. Or, we did. Before this.” Her eyes flicked towards him for a moment before returning to the ground and he saw a blush beginning to creep up her neck. He couldn’t help but smile at how flustered she was and he felt Karen’s gaze come to rest firmly on him.

“I’m Owen.” He reached his hand out and realized belatedly just how dirty it was. He almost pulled it back with an apology but it didn’t faze her, she shook it for a moment before pulling him into a tight hug. 

“I don’t know what happened out there, but my boys said you protected them. Thank you, so much. Thank you.” When she pulled back there were tears in her eyes and he squeezed her hands before releasing them. 

“They’re the bravest kids I’ve ever met. You raised them well.” A few tears slid down her face at that and Claire finally seemed to get her legs back under her, reaching forward and rubbing her sister’s arm.

“There’s a cab, you said? My house is only fifteen minutes from here. Why don’t you go get the boys, I’ll- we’ll- I… just, can you give us a minute?” Karen looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment before giving Claire a long look. Finally, she nodded and turned back the way she came.

Claire watched her sister walk away until she was out of sight around the corner, but still she didn’t turn back to face him. She seemed nervous suddenly, and he hoped it wasn’t because he had scared her by saying too much. He just couldn’t play this little cat and mouse game with her anymore. He didn’t have the energy. She blew him away, she was all he could think about, he wanted desperately to see where this thing between them might go, but he couldn’t make her let him in. That was up to her now. But she had hugged him, she had reached out to him, so there was hope, right?

“Claire you don’t have to-“ “Come with us?”” They both spoke at the same time and she chuckled, shaking her head and turning back to look up at him.

“Will you come with us? Please? I mean, I don’t know if you have somewhere else you’d rather go, or someone else you need to go find. Don’t feel obligated or anything, but if you wanted to, or if you don’t have anywhere else, or even if you do but if you just want to… you could. Come with us, I mean. With… me.” Her cheeks had turned a bright red while she was babbling and he couldn’t help the broad smile that broke out across his face at her nervousness. She was doing it again, reaching out. Trying. Giving him a chance to build trust with her. It was scaring the crap out of her, but she was doing it. He wished she had been able to answer him before Karen had interrupted but seeing her like this he realized he didn’t need to hear her say the words. This was too real for her, too scary. She’d never be able to do it just out of obligation. 

“There’s nowhere else I want to be. And no one else I need to find. Not right now anyways.” She met his eyes and smiled shyly in relief. He couldn’t help smirking at her then, walking backwards away from her towards the front of the hanger. “And stop trying to get rid of me. You’re stuck with me now. And I’m stubborn, I’m hard to get rid of.”

“I wasn’t trying to get rid of you! I was just giving you an out!” She was hurrying after him now, but he kept just out of her reach, still smirking.

“You may think you could out stubborn me, but let me warn you right now, it’ll never happen.” She rolled her eyes at that and he let her catch up to him, walking shoulder to shoulder.

“We’ll just see about that.”

“Yep, we will. We’ll see me win.” She reached out to smack him on the arm but he took the opportunity to catch her hand in his and he didn’t let go, even when they came into view of her family and she tried half-heartedly to pull away from him. He saw Karen’s sharp look again and felt Claire tense against him, but he gave her hand a squeeze and she relaxed a bit. As soon as they got close Grey broke free from his mother’s grip and ran over to them, throwing his arms around them as best he could. Owen could feel how tightly the boy’s hand was clenching his vest and he could hear him breathing hard. The poor kid was terrified.

“I thought you guys left! That you didn’t say goodbye and that I wouldn’t get to see you again! Don’t do that! Don’t disappear!” He let his free hand fall onto the boy’s shoulder, his heart clenching for him. He was so young, he didn’t deserve to have gone through what he had. Owen glanced up at Gray’s parents and saw the worried and confused looks on their faces and realized they had no idea how to deal with what was happening. Their boys had been through a horrific ordeal that they still knew almost nothing about, and they couldn’t comfort them. They didn’t know how.

“We didn’t leave, we just needed some air. We’re right here sweetie, its ok.” Claire was hugging him tightly but Grey was beginning to tremble against them so Owen knelt down in front of him, making him meet his eyes. What little time he’d spent with the kids he’d noticed how much Gray relied on facts to understand the world. They gave him something to cling to, a way to navigate the unknown.

“Gray, do you think I’m the kind of guy who breaks promises?” The boy shook his head slowly, not understanding why he was being asked that. “You’re right. If I make a promise, I always keep it. I promised your aunt Claire I’d find you and keep you safe, and I did that didn’t I?” Again he nodded, this time with a lot more certainty. “Alright. So you know that I’ll keep the promise I’m about to make you then, right?” He had stopped shaking and was staring at Owen with wide eyes.

“Yes.”

“Good. I promise not to leave without telling you, ok? We’re safe now, nobody is going to disappear.” Gray stated up at him for a long moment, weighing Owen’s words in his head. Finally he nodded slowly, then looked at Claire for confirmation. 

“You have to promise me too.” Claire smiled sadly at him before sticking out her pinky.

“I pinky promise not to leave without telling you first. Okay?” The little boy surveyed her for a moment before linking her finger with his own and nodding vigorously.

“Okay. Good.” The fear was gone from his voice but he stayed right next to them, close enough to touch them if he wanted to, while they moved to meet the rest of his family at the taxi. “Mom said we get to go see your house now?”

“Yeah, but it’s not really my house. I mean, it is, but I didn’t live there. I had an apartment on the island too… but it’s got beds and showers and, well, no food at all but there’s a market just down the street.” Claire was babbling again and Owen wondered if it was nervousness or exhaustion. Or both. It was adorable though.

“Beds and showers and a market down the street are all we need right now. Let’s go.” That was the boy’s father and before Owen had a chance to offer an introduction he was herding the boys into the van that was their cab. He ended up sitting in the middle seat with Zach while Gray was sandwiched between his parents behind them and Claire climbed into the front so that she’d be able to give the cab driver directions more easily.

As soon as they were moving he was fighting sleep but he refused to give in. It was too short of a ride to do anything but leave him fuzzy and out of it if he did let himself sleep. So instead he made himself memorize the route they were taking. It kept his mind just busy enough to keep his eyes open. Everyone was silent except for Claire telling the driver when to turn in flawless Spanish. It surprised him a little that she spoke the language, but then he hardly knew anything about her. He could read her, could see what she was feeling even before she figured it out herself, but he didn’t know anything about her past. Really, they’d hardly spent any time together at all. One failed date, a couple of incredibly short conversations, and then all the running from dinosaurs.

Maybe it should make him uncomfortable, the fact that he wanted to be by this woman’s side as long as she would let him, even though he didn’t know the first thing about her. But, it didn’t. He’d always lived his life following his instincts and he’d known the moment he had sat down across from her at that bar that there was something here. God knows he’d spent the last several months thinking about little else. Nobody had ever captured his attention like this before. He had the tendency to get bored pretty quickly. He’d been in a few relationships that had lasted a couple of months, mostly because he thought it was what he was supposed to do, but usually within a couple of dates he’d be trying like hell to find something interesting enough to call the girl again. His brother was constantly giving him a hard time for it, saying his standards were too high, that he was going to end up a serial bachelor if he didn’t change his expectations. So he’d tried. But then a new job opportunity would pop up, somewhere new where he’d never been, and he’d take it without even thinking of the relationship. Which, he figured, was the ultimate sign that he had been trying to force something that just wasn’t right. The fact that he would basically forget that he supposedly had a reason to stay wherever he was.

When he’d been offered the job here on the island he’d been dating a woman for almost six months, the longest relationship he’d ever been in. She’’d been talking about them moving in together for a while… he hadn’t even considered having her meet his parents. They were on completely different pages, but he was trying, because he was in his thirties, and everyone kept telling him he needed to stop pushing women away. And then he’d been offered the job and he’d said yes without a second thought. She’d offered to come with him, said she was willing to quit her job and make the move to Costa Rica just to be with him and he’d laughed. It was terrible, the worst thing he could have done, and he still felt awful about it, but it had slipped out before he could stop himself. It was just so ridiculous. He was willing to end it without much of a second thought because he just wasn’t invested at all, and she was ready to move to a foreign country to be with him. After that he’d stopped trying the relationship thing. He didn’t want to hurt anyone else, even if that had never been his intention. 

It wasn’t hard for him, to be alone. He had his work and his friends. He’d never been the kind of guy who needed more in order to be happy. He was good at being content with what he had. He’d never in his life pined over a woman. If they wanted to spend time with him, then great. They’d have some fun, and when it stopped being fun it would end and that would be that. He didn’t believe in regrets. But then he’d met Claire and all of a sudden he wanted things he’d never wanted before. He wanted to know her, to hear every story she had to tell him. He wanted to go back to Minnesota with her for Christmas and watch Gray open presents. He wanted to bring her back to the ranch to meet his family… he’d never wanted that before. Not once. Ever. That should scare him, right? Didn’t most people balk and make stupid poor decisions once they realized what they wanted because they were too used to not having it? Or afraid of getting it then losing it? He hardly knew her, how could he possibly be so sure already?

He turned his eyes away from the window and looked at her. As if she had felt his gaze she turned immediately, her blue eyes meeting his. She smiled hesitantly at him and it all fell away. So what if other people got in their heads and couldn’t make a decision to save their lives? That wasn’t him, had never been him. He wanted Claire in his life, period. Whatever that meant, wherever he had to go, he wanted to be next to her. Maybe it was insane, but he’d spent the last three years training raptors. He was really really good at insane.

The cab took a turn and Claire broke their eye contact, pointing out the front window and telling the driver to pull up next to a small green house. The yard was neatly landscaped with tropical flowers and he wondered who took care of them. A neighbor maybe, or a gardener.

“I just have to go next door and get the spare set of keys from the neighbor, ok?” The rest of them made no move to get out of the cab so Owen stayed behind as well, watching as she walked slowly towards the house next door. She was finally starting to limp and Owen wondered just how bad off her feet were. He knew she hadn’t had any other choice, but seriously, who the hell runs through jungles in shoes like that?

Before Claire got even halfway across the yard an incredibly short old woman hurried out, yelling in Spanish about how she’d been so worried and thank God Claire was ok and what happened and how could she help. He couldn’t hear Claire, but he saw her gesture towards the car, then her house, and the woman hurried back inside while Claire waved for them to come out. Owen was the first out of the van and he hung back, helping Karen and Gray out while Scott paid the driver. Frowning, Owen felt his pockets and realized he didn’t have his wallet. Because he hadn’t needed it to go and evaluate a paddock. And now it was sitting on a counter in a trailer that he may never be able to get back to. God this day had been too long.

“Claire, which way is the market? I’ll go and get us all some food.” That was the boy’s father and Claire pointed in the opposite direction then they had come from. 

“Two blocks down, take a left. There are a few restaurants down that way too.” He nodded and turned to the boys, giving them hugs and asking them what they were hungry for. As he climbed into the front seat of the cab and pointed in the direction Claire had just described the neighbor came back out with a covered plate in one hand and a fuzzy keychain in the other. She reached him first and she shoved the plate into his hands before pushing past him towards the door which she quickly unlocked. She didn’t stop there though, she pushed in and Claire followed behind her, not even trying to argue.

The house was small and clean. The door led into one large room with a kitchen along one wall, dining table, and a couple of couches. There were two doors to the side and a staircase at the back of the house. The neighbor was busy opening curtains and windows, letting fresh air into the house, and Owen finally realized that there was an amazing smell coming from the covered plate in front of him. He pulled up a corner of the tin foil and saw a pile of home-made tortillas and felt his mouth start to water. 

“Eat, eat.” The neighbor appeared next to him suddenly and pushed him firmly towards the table and he let her, even though she couldn’t be more than five feet tall and probably weighed less than a hundred pounds. She reminded him of his grandmother, and NOBODY said no to Granny. 

“Consuela, this is my sister Karen, and my nephews Zach and Gray. This is Consuela, the kindest neighbor in the world.”

“Somebody has to look after you Niña. You should come home more often. Who’s this?” She had a thick accent but it was easy to understand her. Her eyes fixed themselves on Owen, while the boys collapsed at the table, devouring tortillas. Karen stood behind Gray with her hands on her shoulders but she was looking at Owen too, just as curious about why he was here as Consuela was.

“Owen. We work together.” The old woman laughed at that and shook her head.

“I’m old but not that old.” Claire started to protest but Consuela raised her hand to cut her off. Her stare was boring into him, trying to intimidate him, but he met her gaze evenly. He wasn’t about to answer this question, it was all up to Claire.

“He’s her boyfriend.” Gray chimed in happily and Zach snorted, trying not to laugh.

“Ok, Karen, boys, come on I’ll show you where you can shower and sleep.” She was bright red again and Owen was silently pleased that she didn’t correct her nephew. That was a good sign, right? Karen followed her over to the doors he had seen before, one of them opened to reveal a bathroom and the other one hid a bedroom with two beds inside. The house was designed for visitors, but it was pretty obvious she’d never had her family there before. He watched her pull towels from a closet and point out a first aid kit but lost track of what she was doing when he realized Consuela was still staring at him fiercely. Turning to meet her he found her face full of steel and he realized in that moment just how much Claire meant to her.

“You will take care of her.” It wasn’t a question, it was an order, and he met her eyes full on. 

“I will. For as long as she will let me.” He kept his voice low so that Claire wouldn’t hear him. The stare continued a few moments more and Owen knew he was being weighed and measured, but he didn’t back down. Finally, she nodded and reached out to pat his arm.

“Good man. Lucky man.” He nodded solemnly and looked across the room to where Claire was watching them, chewing on a thumbnail. He smiled at her to reassure her and then reached out and snagged a tortilla, all but shoving it in his mouth. It was warm and delicious and he ate three more while Claire and Karen ushered Gray into the shower. 

“Zach, there’s another shower upstairs. There are towels under the sink.” Claire led him over to the stairs before joining him at the table and picking at a tortilla herself. 

“Ok, you come get me if you need anything Claire. You hear? All of you. I’m right next door.” Consuela met each of their eyes one by one until they agreed, and she came over to give Claire another hug before she left and shut the front door behind her. Owen heard the she shower turn on upstairs and the one downstairs came on a few moments later. He watched Karen look around nervously before sitting down at the table across from them, tears in her eyes.

“You need to tell me what happened.”

“Karen…” Claire was shaking her head frantically but her sister cut her off before she could say anything else.

“No! I have to know! Those are my boys and I don’t know what happened but the two of you look like you went through hell with the blood and the holes in your clothes and my boys, my babies were in all of that too and I have to know. I have to know so that I can help them. You have to tell me, you owe me that Claire. You owe me that much at least.” She was fighting tears, her hands clenched in front of her on the table. Claire’s face had drained of all its blood and she was staring at a spot on the table, tears filling her eyes as well. 

“I can’t… I don’t know how…… I’m so sorry Karen but I just-“ She was babbling again, nervous, and he reached over and caught her hands in his, trying to help her calm down.

“Please, I have to know.” It was almost a whisper but it hit Claire like a punch and she slammed her eyes shut, tears spilling down her cheeks. He took a deep breath, turning towards Karen, ready to tell her what had happened as best he could, but Claire surprised him yet again.

“I don’t know exactly what happened at first, because they were with my assistant. I was… busy. I do know that they ran off from her and were on a ride with the herbivore herd. There was an asset that escaped. It… it was really smart and it set a trap and it escaped.” She turned her hand over under his and threaded her fingers through his, holding on tightly. 

“It was… a dangerous one.” Karen wasn’t really asking, but Claire nodded anyways. She took a deep breath then and told her sister everything she knew, everything that had happened to them. She sounded distant, like she was reading a report that had been handed to her rather than telling her sister about the awful things that had happened to her nephews over the last twenty four hours. She was slipping behind her walls, calling on her corporate training, and he wondered just how many times she was going to have to tell this story over the next few days. Weeks. Months. They may be off the island but this was far from over. Hopefully they’d have a day or two before the lawyers tracked them down or the press found them, but for all he knew they were on their way to the house right now.

Claire was telling a white faced Karen about the T-Rex when they heard the water turn off upstairs. They all paused for a moment, then she finished the story as quickly as she could. She was telling Karen about them getting to the boat when they heard Zach coming down to join them.

“Thank you.” Karen whispered it, unable to find her voice, and she quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks and plastered on a smile as her oldest son came into the room. There was a lot more that both sisters wanted to say, he could see it lingering between them, but there wasn’t time now. Gray’s shower turned off as well and before he could even come out of the bathroom the front door opened revealing Scott loaded down with bags of food and clothing.

“Ok boys, I got you shorts and t-shirts because it’s Central America and it’s all I could find, so you’ll just have to deal with being cold when we get back to the airport in Minnesota.” Gray had emerged and laughed a little at that while Zach just rolled his eyes. To Owen’s surprise he held out two bags to him as well. “I wasn’t sure what size you were so I got a few different things for you. Unless you have clothes you keep here?” Zach snickered at that as he tore open a bag of Cheetos and Claire turned red again.

“He doesn’t. We work together! How many times do I have to tell you people that?”

“Probably until you can say it convincingly.” It took every ounce of willpower he had to keep from laughing at Karen’s comment and Claire buried her face in her hands, shaking her head. 

“Mom, can I watch tv?” Gray was staring longingly at the tv in the downstairs bedroom and Karen glanced at Claire and Owen before nodding reluctantly. 

“As long as it isn’t the news.” Both boys went in and claimed a bed and they listened to them argue over what was on for a few minutes. They settled on a movie Owen had never heard of and Karen sighed heavily. “I hope it helps them sleep. After all of that… maybe it’s not the right way to handle it but if it distracts them…… we can’t really do anything else right now, can we?” 

“We’ll get them help as soon as we get home. We’ll get them the best therapist we can find. They’re strong, they’ll be ok.” Scott rested a hand on Karen’s shoulder for a moment and she looked up at him sadly before nodding. “I should go make some calls, find us a spot on a plane back home.”

“Do you want to come back with us Claire? What you’ve been through, it’s just as bad as the boys. You could come back with us, take care of yourself for once.” She gave her sister a half smile but shook her head firmly.

“There’s a really big mess here, I need to help clean it up.” He squeezed her hand under the table again, hoping she knew that he’’d be there to help.

“Well you always have a place with me. You’ve got a home to come back to anytime you need to, ok?” Claire got up then and gave her sister a long hug.

“I know.” Scott had moved out into the front yard on his phone and Karen went into the bedroom and laid down next to Gray, running her fingers through his hair. Claire watched for a moment, a look of longing on her face, before she turned back to Owen and sighed heavily. 

“Come on, let’s go get cleaned up. I’ve got a first aid kit upstairs, and a shower, and a really comfortable bed. And if I don’t take these shoes off soon I’m afraid they’ll become fused to my feet.” 

“Are you trying to get me into bed with you?” He was smirking and he kept his voice just loud enough to reach her ears alone. He couldn’t help feeling pleased when her cheeks turned pink.

“Or there’s this really uncomfortable thing called a couch which is where people who give me a hard time end up.” He laughed at that and pushed himself up, groaning as his muscles protested fiercely. But before they could take even a single step towards the stairs Scott came rushing back in.

“Karen! There’s a flight this evening with four seats left on it, everything else is booked up for days. I just called a cab and it’s on its way. It’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“What? Scott, it’s too quick, the boys need to sleep and Claire… we need more time!” Zach and Gray watched their parents silently and he watched Claire’s face fall.

“It’s better we get home now than a week from now. And it looks like those are our options. They can sleep in the cab and on the plane.” Claire took a deep breath and pulled her shoulders back, and Owen knew she was about to do something she didn’t want to. It was her tell.

“He’s right Karen, it’d be better for you guys to go now. This whole area is going to be a media circus, probably by the end of the day. And there are security videos all over the park, if any of that footage gets leaked the boys will be on it and the press is going to be all over them. You should take them home now, before any of that happens.”

“But what about you?” Claire shook her head at her sister and forced a smile onto her face.

“I’ll be fine. I’m used to talking to the press, remember? I have to fix this. As much as I can I have to make this right. I can’t come home yet, but I will. As soon as I can, ok? I promise.” Karen shook her head but got up and hugged her sister tightly. The boys turned off the tv and came to hug Claire as well. 

“I’m gonna miss you Aunt Claire.” Gray’s voice was quiet and sad she knelt down to hug him more tightly.

“I’m going to miss you too. But I’ll see you soon, ok?” He nodded against her shoulder and they stayed that way for a few moments. Then there was the sound of a horn outside and he watched as Claire blinked away tears. Gray let go of her and ran over to him, surprising him with a tight hug as well.

“Thank you. For being all cool and saving us and stuff.” He chuckled at that and hugged him back. 

“Anytime.” He was even more surprised when Zach came over and hugged him as well. It was quick, and he pulled away sheepishly.

“Yeah, thanks man. For helping Gray, I mean.” Owen nodded then caught the teenager’s shoulder in his hand, meeting his eyes.

“You did more for him then I did. You protected him. You got him somewhere safe. You’re the hero here, not me.” Zach blinked a few times, trying to hide the tears that came into his eyes, before nodding once sharply and turning away. Then Karen was hugging him tightly again, thanking him, and Scott was ushering the boys out of the house. Owen snagged one of the bags of snacks off the table and handed it to Karen once she pulled away and watched as Claire followed them outside for one last round of goodbyes. The house was painfully silent and he listened as the cab pulled away, then to the clicking of Claire’s shoes as she walked back up the sidewalk to the front door. As she shut it behind her stood there, looking forlorn, her eyes staring blankly towards the table and the mess that was left behind. She looked so lost, so alone in that moment that Owen wondered if she even remembered he was there. So he walked over to her and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. Her arms came around his back and she let herself lean against him. They stood there for a few minutes, cocooned in silence, before she finally whispered the thing she was fighting desperately not to feel.

“I didn’t want them to go. It’s too fast. Too soon.” Her voice broke on the last word and he felt her start to cry against his chest. 

“I know.” He didn’t try to reason with her or make her feel better. He simply agreed with her, and held her, so that she would know she wasn’t alone.


	8. Chapter 8

Claire couldn’t bring herself to pull away from Owen’s arms. She knew she should. Her tears had stopped falling a while ago and an exhausted numbness had taken their place. Her feet were throbbing and she was starting to itch everywhere, reminding her that she needed a shower and to clean out the cuts that she was only distantly aware of. She wasn’t even sure how she was still standing she was so tired, and there was a very clean, very comfortable bed waiting for her upstairs. Not to mention the fact that she was letting somebody else be strong for her, letting somebody else comfort her. 

But for the first time in longer than she could remember her iron will was failing her and she was still just standing there letting him hold her. Breathing him in. Hearing his steady heart beat beneath her head, her eyes shut tight in a meager attempt to keep out the world. He was so warm. She’d noticed it on their date, when he pulled her close during their dance. His hands had radiated heat against her back. And now, being surrounded by it, she was wondering how she was ever going to be able to pull herself away. A sigh escaped her and she felt his arms tighten even more as she let more of her weight fall against him.

“Claire, not that I don’t love that you’re finally letting me hold you, but you’re about to fall asleep on your feet.” Feeling his chest vibrate as he spoke softly made her smile a little and she shook her head no just a tiny bit, surprised at how hard it was to get her body to make even that small of a movement.

“N- I’m- no.” That had been ‘No I’m not’ in her mind but her lips had hardly moved. Maybe he was right. She felt him sigh beneath her and suddenly the world was spinning. She couldn’t stop herself from squealing in surprise as he bent and swept a hand behind her knees, picking her up without a pause. Her arms locked around his neck and she stiffened, convinced he was going to drop her. “Put me down!” 

“Oh sure, now you’re wide awake.” He was teasing her again and as he started walking towards the stairs she tightened her grip even more.

“This isn’t funny Owen, put me down. I’ll walk!”

“Relax, I’ve got you.” It was hard for her to admit it, but he was right. He was carrying her up the stairs with almost no effort at all.

“I swear if you give me a concussion because you’re trying to prove something I’ll-”

“You’ll what? Set a t-rex loose at me? Been there, done that.” She rolled her eyes at that, wondering just how often he would be reminding her of that. “Besides, how the hell would me being a gentleman and carrying you to the shower result in a concussion?” She felt her cheeks heat up at the question and she looked away, her mind trying to race to come up with an explanation that wasn’t as embarrassing as the truth was.

“We’re upstairs, there’s the bathroom, you can put me down now.” She refused to look at him but she had a strong suspicion that irritating stubborn smirk of his was plastered across his face.

“Or I can just literally hold you hostage until you tell me whatever story has your cheeks so closely matching your hair.”

“Owen!” She tried to squirm her way back to the floor but he was stronger than she realized and she achieved nothing. No, she was exhausted. THAT’S why she had no affect. She reassured herself that if she was well rested she’d have no problem getting free. With a heavy sigh she glared at him for a moment before relating the story.

“I was in New York for a conference several years ago and it was raining and slick and we were running late so I was hurrying and I twisted my ankle. Derek, my ex, insisted on carrying me the three blocks back to the hotel even though I kept telling him to put me down and just help me walk. But he got it into his head that carrying me would prove how macho he was or something. We made it less than a block before he dropped me. My head hit the curb, I got a concussion, and missed the rest of the conference. There, happy?” She kept it as short and simple as she could, leaving out how they had been arguing about her new promotion and the fact that she was going to make more money than him. They had been running late for dinner, but he had actually been storming away from her and she was rushing after him trying to smooth things over when she turned her ankle. Also, he had ended things between them the next day because ‘their lives were moving in two different directions’. It had been a crap excuse, they both knew it, but she hadn’t fought him on it. If he didn’t want to be with her because she made more money than him then fine, because she certainly wasn’t going to sacrifice her career for him. But she wasn’t about to share all of that with Owen, the story was humiliating enough as it was. 

He didn’t say a word as he moved them into the bathroom and sat her gently down on the counter. She could feel her cheeks burning and with a bitter sigh she forced herself to meet his eyes, steeling herself for whatever ridicule was coming. To her shock he leaned in and kissed the top of her head, murmuring something along the lines of ‘no more concussions’ before pulling back and hooking his fingers into his belt loops, severing their physical contact. Just that brush of his lips against her head had sent her heart racing. Not because it was passionate but because she wasn’t used to tenderness. In fact, she’d spent most of her adult life discouraging it, always wanting to be strong and self sufficient. She didn’t want anybody to think that she needed them to take care of her, especially not emotionally. She had built so many walls around herself to make sure that she never appeared vulnerable that she had convinced herself she was fine on her own and always would be. She’d stopped listening to her heart so long ago she wondered sometimes if she’d ever be able to hear it again. And when those thoughts came up, she would bury herself in work until they faded away once more. But right now she couldn’t for the life of her remember why protecting herself in that way had seemed like such a good idea. All she knew was that there was an incredible man standing in front of her and the last thing she wanted to do was shut him out again.

“You shower first, I’ll wait outside.” His voice was soft and as he started to turn towards the door a kind of panic filled her. She only knew how to keep people out, not let them in. What if after they washed the remnants of the park away from themselves, after they slept and started to find some space from the chaos they’d been thrown in to, she shut him out again? What if she got defensive and angry and he decided she wasn’t worth the effort of getting past all of that? 

“Wait-” He turned back to her and she felt her throat close up. “I- I just…” His green eyes peered searchingly into hers and she grasped frantically for the words to explain what she was feeling. The longing and the hope and the desperation and the fear and the need… “Owen…” she couldn’t find them. Maybe they didn’t even exist. He reached out then and tucked a stray curl behind her ear, letting his fingers linger there against her neck and whatever fear was still managing to hold her back shattered. 

Her lips sought his as one hand caught the fabric of his vest in a tight grip, pulling him closer, and the other tangled in his hair at the nape of his neck. She was the one who had caught him by surprise this time, but he had much faster reflexes than she did. Her whole body melted against him as he started kissing her back, his lips moving against hers with a gentleness that was nothing like their first frantic much too short kiss. But gentleness was not what she wanted right now. She needed him to know how she felt and words were failing her, so she poured everything she couldn’t express into the kiss. Her tongue slid along his lower lip before she nipped at it, begging him to let her in. He didn’t resist for long, and as she began to explore his mouth her hand tightened in his hair, tugging gently and causing him to shudder. Liking the reaction she did it again and suddenly she discovered just how much he was holding back.

With a growl he took control of the kiss, his tongue dancing with hers and sending chills down her spine. He wrapped an arm around the small of her back and pulled him flush against him, and she kissed him back frantically, desperate to to somehow convey what she was feeling. She parted her legs to make space for him, pulling him even closer and gasped when she felt him hard against her. She wrapped her legs tightly around the back of his thighs and slid her hands down his back, tugging his shirt from his pants, desperate to feel his heated skin. As her hands slid underneath and up his back he pulled away from her, breathing heavily.

“Claire-” She ignored him, moving her lips to the side of his neck as she shoved at his arms, managing to get his vest off of him before moving to the buttons on the front of his shirt. “Claire, darlin’, this isn’t the time.” Hearing him call her darling, his voice low and rough, sent a shudder through her and she found his lips again, her fingers deftly dealing with his buttons and dancing across the skin of his chest. The rational part of herself knew he was right, that lack of sleep and adrenaline and nearly being killed several times over were driving her desperation, but it just felt so damn good. So much better than she had secretly imagined late at night after a few too many glasses of wine. He made her feel beautiful. The way his eyes were devouring her, even as he forced his hands off her skin to clench the edge of the counter, wedging space between them, made her feel wild and powerful god did she want him.

“I don’t care.” She was surprised at how husky her own voice was and she locked eyes with him as she peeled her battered silk tank top over her head and tossed it to the floor. His eyes darkened and he clenched his jaw, his body leaning towards hers involuntarily. “Owen-” it was a plea, and his hands slid along the outside of her thighs and up to encircle her waist. His work callused skin sliding against her own sent shivers all throughout her body and her own hands moved to his shoulders, lightly tracing the scars she found there.

“You’re trying to kill me.”

“Maybe just a little death.” She trailed her mouth along his collar bone and he tilted her head up, catching his lips in one last searing kiss that made her head spin before he took her hands in his and pulled them away, trapping them at her sides.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we need to stop.” His voice was so certain, so strong, that it finally cut through the haze that had descended around her and she felt a flood of shame at how she was behaving, her cheeks turning bright red and her eyes dropping to her lap. Of course, this was insane. They hardly knew each other. Hell, maybe he was only here because he felt obligated, because she had been acting so needy. She tried to pull her hands away from his, to shield herself in some way, but he didn’t let her. Instead he moved back into her space, resting his forehead gently against hers. “Don’t do that, don’t hide. You’re incredible and so damn sexy that it’s taking every ounce of willpower I have to stop this.” He kissed her gently then, almost chastely, and her inner critic’s voice was slowly drowned out. “Soon enough, darlin’, but right now I’m afraid you’ll wake up and regret it. I don’t want any regrets between us.” She leaned into him took a deep breath, trying to slow her racing heart. He wrapped his arms around her as she nodded into his chest, calming her more than it seemed like he should be able to.

“Okay.”

“Okay.” He pulled away from her slowly, his hands sliding off of her arms with a sigh. It was a small bathroom, and he didn’t need to put hardly any distance between them to turn on the shower. Steam began to fill the air within moments but before he could reach the door she surprised them both.

“Help me wash my back?” She could hardly believe she had said it, and She liked this brave, vulnerable side of herself that was starting to emerge. It wasn’t something she’d ever accessed before, at least not since her father died.

“Claire…” It came out as a groan and she smiled a small smile up at him.

“Just a shower. You saved my life, the least I can do is help you wash all the grit away.” She was trying to make light of it all, but even as the words left her mouth they fell flat.

“It takes a hell of a lot more than soap and water to wash something like this away.” His eyes were unfocused, gazing blankly at the water pouring out of the shower head and she wondered if he was thinking about the raptors. His raptors, really. He had called them his girls and she’d seen how much he loved them in his dedication to working with them. They’d saved his life in the end, fought for him, protected him. Now they were gone, all but one anyways, and likely he would never see Blue again. 

“I know, but at least it’s a start.” One of her hands found his cheek and turned his head gently to meet her eyes. He let out a heavy sigh before seeming to force his thoughts away with a quick shake of his head.

“Just a shower. Nothing funny Miss Dearing.” He pulled back and shrugged out of the shirt she had practically ripped the buttons off of before pulling the white t-shirt he was wearing underneath off as well. She forced her eyes not to linger on what was revealed, knowing he was right, that they needed to get clean and sleep more than anything else right now, no matter how tempting it might be to simply get lost in each other.

“I wouldn’t dare.” She lifted a leg and carefully pulled a ruined shoe off of her foot, hissing at the sudden bloom of pain. She had known that they had taken a beating, but she’d been keeping the pain pushed to the back of her mind while she focused on the boys. But now there was no chance of ignoring it any longer. The back of her heel was rubbed completely raw as was the top of her foot where the shoe had sat. Her toes were blistered and parts of the bottom of her foot were black and blue, a bruise rather than dirt judging by the pain she felt. Any lingering thoughts of trying to seduce Owen disappeared as she stared down at her foot in shock.

“Shit Claire, how were you still walking?” Owen gently caught her other calf in his hand and slid the remaining shoe off. She bit her cheek desperately to keep from crying out. If anything it hurt more than the first one had. “This ankle is swollen, did you twist it?”

“I don’t know, probably? Everything hurts, I can hardly tell what’s injury and what’s just overworked muscles.” His hands were holding her foot incredibly gently, but she pulled away from his grip and started to slide off of the counter as slowly as she could. If she didn’t do it now she was afraid she never would. She could feel his eyes on her and she fought the grimace that must have been plastered across her face. But as her feet flattened out on the floor and began supporting her weight she couldn’t stop the pained cry she let out. She caught his offered hand in hers, clenching it tightly against the pain rolling up her legs as she took gasping breaths, waiting for it to pass. 

“Try to breathe more deeply, as deep and as slow as you can. It’ll help your body relax, which may help the pain.” His voice was so low and soft that she couldn’t help but respond, slowing her breathing and her racing heart with it. The pain didn’t really fade at all, but she felt better able to deal with it after a minute or two. At some point she had rested her forehead against Owen’s chest without even realizing it, matching her breathing with his movements.

“Ok, lets get this over with and lay down. And not move again for a very, very, very long time.” He chucked at that and she hobbled the two very painful steps to reach the tub before quickly shedding the rest of her clothes, hardly aware of her nakedness at all, just desperate to finish with the whole process. She heard Owen doing the same behind her as she climbed in, keeping one hand on the wall to support herself, not trusting her screaming feet. The water was just one hair away from scalding but it didn’t stop her from burying her head under the spray of water, sighing heavily at the glorious feeling. She felt Owen step in behind her, the tub suddenly seeming disproportionately smaller and she took a step forward. She wasn’t quite sure if it was a reflex, an attempt to forcefully maintain some amount of space, or if it was to share the stream of water as her mind feebly tried to suggest. It didn’t matter either way, Owen’s hands were on her almost immediately, lathering her shoulders and arms with soap she was surprised he had found so quickly. 

She opened her mouth to tell him he didn’t need to do that for her but the words got lost somewhere between her mind and her mouth. It was taking everything he had in her to just keep standing. Her feet were on fire and the rest of her felt like a lead weight that was certain to topple at any moment. She flinched involuntarily as his hand skimmed over a sore spot on her shoulder and instead of apologizing he simply leaned down and kissed it softly.

“I hope I never have to see this many bruises on you again.” His voice was gravely from exhaustion and she flinched again as his hand neared her hip, the one that she had fallen on running from the T-Rex. A glance down showed a riot of color spreading across the skin, sickening shades of blue and black and green.

“You and me both. You can’t be much better though.” She turned around then, scanning him for similar wounds and trying desperately to ignore the fact that they were both naked and wet. And very, very, very close together.

“I don’t bruise very easily.” He was right. There were cuts here and there on him, but none of the bruises she was sporting. And his feet were fine, she noticed with a twinge of jealousy. “And I wear sensible shoes.” What was it with him and being able to practically read her freaking mind? Of course, she was staring at their feet, so maybe no mind reading involved then. The water that was sliding past their toes and down the drain was a mix of brown and red and bubbles, and she watched it moving as if in a trance. How was it possible that it was coming off of their skin so easily? Shouldn’t it be ingrained in their pores, burned onto them somehow? A visible brand, declaring to the world now and forever that they’d been through hell and back? She felt tears burning in her eyes again and she clenched them shut, refusing to let them fall. “Claire…”

“No. I’m fine. Just… give me the soap, your turn.” He must have heard the determined edge in her voice and decided not to argue with her, instead just handed the soap over and stepped forward as she stepped back, tilting his head up and letting the water spill over his face. She forced herself to move quickly but throughly, trying desperately not to think of him as Owen. If she thought of him as Owen, then they’d never get out of this shower without doing something they would both regret in the morning. Or… evening? To be honest she wasn’t sure what time it was. ‘No doing things we’ll regret after we wake up. Ha.’ The fact that she was silently proud of figuring something so simple and unimportant out spoke to her level of exhaustion. She kept her actions as clinical as she could, methodically washing away every bit of grit she could find on his chest and arms. She slipped around him then, brushing against him and sending chills through her body. ‘It would have been smarter to just ask him to turn around’ she thought as his body tensed, but she simply pretended it hadn’t happened. ‘Not the time not the time not the time’ was the mantra she was screaming to herself silently as she cleaned his back as well. 

“You said you had a first aid kit, yeah?” his voice nearly made her jump as she was trying so hard to distance herself from the situation. 

“Yeah, it’s under the sink.”

“Good, your feet need some bandaging before we go to bed.”

“Right. Bandages, yes.” His shoulders were clean, she knew that, but her hands were still moving over them, tracing them, making the muscles underneath jump and shiver. 

“Claire-” There was that warning tone in his voice again. She’d never really been one to listen to warnings though.

“Mmm-hmm.” Maybe if she kept doing this long enough he would spin around, push her against the tiled wall with a bruising kiss, consequences be damned. That scared, desperate part of herself wanted that more than anything. Wanted to be distracted and comforted and and to feel alive because they were. They’d survived. They had, but others…

She did jump when he snapped the water off decisively and turned to face her, forcing her hand to fall away.

“Are you always this incorrigible?” With the water off the temperature was dropping rapidly and she pushed open the curtain, snagging the only towel off the rod and wrapping it around herself, smiling up at Owen.

“Only when I want something I can’t have.” She climbed gingerly out of the tub and moved to rummage around under the sink, leaving him dripping and assuming she’d had the last word.

“Darlin’, you can have me as many times as you want tomorrow, I promise you that.” And just like that he took back the upper hand, sending chills through her body with just his tone of voice. Not wanting him to see her heated cheeks she flung a towel she had finally found at him over her shoulder and reached back into the far corner, pulling the never used first aid kit out and setting it on the counter. She flipped it open, busying herself with trying to decide what bandages would be best while she waited for Owen to be at least slightly less naked so that all the painfully distracting thoughts would stop bouncing around in her head.

“Sit back down on the counter, I’ll do it for you.”

“I don’t need you to-” but he interrupted her before she could finish.

“I know you don’t but could I? Please?” She spun around, surprised.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say please to anything before.” The towel was slung dangerously low on his hips and she forced herself to keep her eyes locked on his as he stepped forward, crowding her space and catching her waist in his hands, all but forcing her to stand on her tip toes and slide back onto the vanity counter.

“Yeah, but look how well it works.” He smirked down at her and slid his hand down her leg leaving goosebumps in its path. With the dirt and dried blood gone her feet looked a little better, but they still horrified her. It was going to hurt to walk for weeks. He moved quickly and efficiently, laying gauze over the worst of the areas and taping it down before wrapping her swollen ankle tightly in an ace bandage. She watched it all with slight amazement, adding it to the list of things that she hadn’t expected him to be able to do. Did she underestimate everyone as badly as she had Owen? Why did she do that? Was she just that afraid of being disappointed? He pulled a bottle of aspirin out of the kit as well and swallowed four of them before handing her two, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“I’m going to go get the clothes your brother in law picked up and water for us. We’re gonna feel enough like hell when we wake up, the last thing we need is to be so dehydrated we feel hungover as well.” As he stepped back she carefully eased her way back to the floor, surprised at what a difference a few bandages made.

“Thank you.” What else was there to say? The words felt so small and empty compared to the gratitude she felt towards him, but she had no idea how to express it. Maybe when she’d gotten some sleep words would stop failing her. She followed him out of the bathroom leaving their ruined clothes scattered across the floor, unable to find the energy to deal with them. As he went downstairs she moved into the bedroom she’d hardly ever used. There were clothes in the drawers and closet she had never once worn, she’d bought them as spares in case her luggage was lost on a business trip or something. The room was sterile, emotionless, like a hotel room. Usually she found that comforting and dependable but now she saw it with new eyes. It was just another way she’d disconnected with her life. Another place in which she’d set up invisible walls to keep emotions out. She searched the room for even a single item of personal importance but of course, there was nothing. She felt her chest tighten and her shoulders curl in and realized how heartbroken she was at all the time she’d wasted trying to keep the world at an arms length. She’d kept so many people out, even her nephews, her own sister. She’d made her life like this room. Empty. Safe. And horribly lonely. Why had it taken a dinosaur attack to realize it?

“Are you ok?” She hadn’t heard him come upstairs and she gratefully leaned against him as he came up behind her. He was clothed, she realized, and she was slightly disappointed.

“Just… thinking. Wishing I had done things differently.” He didn’t ask her to explain, just stood behind her supporting her until with a heavy sigh she pulled away, moving towards the dresser where she knew she could find some shorts and a tank top to sleep in. She dropped her towel to the floor and got dressed quickly before turning around, surprised to find herself alone once again. From the bathroom she heard the crinkling of a bag and she stuck her head around the door to see Owen shoving her ruined clothes into a bag. His own were kicked into a pile on the floor and she figured they’d be fine after a good wash. No wonder he didn’t have any bruises, even his clothes were tough.

Unable to resist it any longer Claire limped towards the bed, shutting the curtains on the way and leaving the room in a comfortable dimness. Pulling back the blanket and slipping between the sheets was absolute bliss, the pillow beneath her cheek the most comforting thing she could imagine. She’d never been this tired in her life, of that she was certain. Her eyes were drifting shut of their own accord, and the last thing she saw before sleep wrapped itself firmly around her was Owen coming through the doorway in a t-shirt and pants that looked suspiciously like board shorts…


End file.
